Nutria? Cottbus, Germany (1 Viewer)

[Henry_Flower]

Can anyone ID this probably-not-beaver? There are nutria in the area, so I suspect that's what it is. No clear view of the tail, unfortunately. It was swimming on the surface at around 17.30 local time.


Thanks!

 

[MarkHows]

looks like a nutria to me

mark

 

[Hauksen]

looks like a nutria to me

mark

Hi Mark,

Could it also be a muskrat? I never know how to tell the difference ...

Regards,

Henning

 

[MarkHows]

The white whiskers indicate Nutria rather than Beaver or Muskrat, the tail is a better feature in the field as you suggested

Mark

 

[Xenospiza]

Definitely a Nutria, which is abundant in Germany (the steady influx keeps the Dutch rat catchers employed).

Musk Rat for starters tends to be more flat on the water, doesn't have the square snout and has quite long hair on the back.

 

[Andy Adcock]

If you guys had said 'Coypu', I wouldn't have had to Google it, where is Nutria coming from?

 

[Henry_Flower]

If you guys had said 'Coypu', I wouldn't have had to Google it, where is Nutria coming from?

Ah! According to Wikipedia both are used in English; I probably use nutria because it's also the German name.

 

[Andy Adcock]

Ah! According to Wikipedia both are used in English; I probably use nutria because it's also the German name.

Mark, is without doubt much better informed than me!

 

[MarkHows]

Coypu seems to only be used in the UK, Nutria is used in the US and Europe

 

[IamFof]

When I was at school, in the 60s, I did a project on the Coypu. I managed to get a couple of specimens, sent from the Norfolk Broads, that I used for dissection and building a skeleton
As far as I can recall the name Nutria came from the Southern states of the USA, and it was the name used for the fur, which was why it was farmed in UK pre WWII. The fur was of a quality to match mink, but a lot cheaper.

 

[Andy Adcock]

When I was at school, in the 60s, I did a project on the Coypu. I managed to get a couple of specimens, sent from the Norfolk Broads, that I used for dissection and building a skeleton
As far as I can recall the name Nutria came from the Southern states of the USA, and it was the name used for the fur, which was why it was farmed in UK pre WWII. The fur was of a quality to match mink, but a lot cheaper.

I wonder what the origin of 'Nutria' is then, in Russia we use Ondatra for Muskrat but this is just the first part of the scientific name. I attach a couple of Muskrat shots from my patch in Russia, just for comparison with the OP.

 

[Sangahyando]

I wonder what the origin of 'Nutria' is then, [...]

It's a misapplication of a Spanish term for "otter", kind of like many English names for American animals ended up (just the other way round this time). But in German, the term "Nutria" wasn't taken, so it caught on. Also, I suspect that it's less awkward to pronounce or memorise for most Germans than "coypu".