A creature in our pond.......
 

Hi,

Yesterday I was watching the ducks/geese out on the pond. Then suddenly I saw something pretty large swimming all around the pond about 1.5acre. It wasn't a duck or goose. It didn't bother the waterfowl.

Then I think I saw a head and then it went under and what looked like a flat tail. I think it was a beaver. (At least I hope its a beaver and not an alligator..)

Beavers aren't real common in this area. If it is one, should I leave it alone? Will it kill the fish in my pond, what do they eat? thankfully it didn't seem interested in the geese/ducks.

any advise or what else it could be?
thanks
chris

It could have been a Nutria.
http://ws1.dk-style.jp/~atoz/animal/nutria.jpg
Nutria
Myocastor coypus

A large, water-dwelling rodent, the Nutria often floats just under the surface with only its eyes and nose exposed. It is not a native North American but was introduced in Louisiana in the 1930s for its fur. Many Nutrias escaped from the fur farms, and before long there were enormous numbers in the wild. When populations are high, Nutrias may destroy stream banks, eat all the wild plants in an area, and raid rice and other crops.

Look For: A large brown aquatic rodent with a long round tail. Lives in marshes but makes a burrow in the bank, not a lodge. Often grunts loudly, like a pig, at dusk

might be a beaver
could be a muskrat, too
You should be able to see beaver damage on saplings
maybe some dam building effort

If it was a muskrat...watch for leaks in your dam. These critters are destructive to ponds. :waa:

I think I'll grab a chair and sit on the pier tomorrow and see if I can get a better look at it.

Is a muskrat and a nutria the same thing? I did a google search and couldn't tell the difference.

No they are not the same.
Nutria
Family Myocastoridae : Myocastor coypus (Molina)
Muskrat
Family (Ondatra zibethicus)

I didn't know Nutria were in North America! I have seen them on t.v. in South America,and they look as big or bigger than a beaver.

I do know about beaver from living in Canada and have beaver ponds. Here they are always near a tree source, preferring hardwoods like poplar. That is their food source and NOT fish. The flat tail and slapping sound you'll hear at night is a dead giveaway that you have a beaver in your water. They are attracted to moving water and continually will want to dam up a creek or small river so the level of the pond is raised closer to their food source (the trees). They flood alder swamps, though I doubt you have that down there. Beaver would be about the size of a medium sized dog plus the flat tail might add another foot or more to the animals length.

Other than that, if it has a round long tail, and is a smaller creature, I'de guess it's a muskrat. They build small mound structures and will inhabit still waters.
I don't think they eat fish, but if you have an otter that's another story. An otter loves eating fish in quantity and will hang around if that food is present. They are sleek animals with a tail that's not flat. They swim fast and will look like almost like a seal in the water or on land move along with an arched back. You'll know if you have an ottter. They can get quite used to you, but don't let their tame antics fool. They can be destructive buggers for fish or protein in the water like crayfish, frogs, etc. They don't care a hoot for vegetable matter in their diet.

Many many years ago I drove from PA to Oregon so seek my fortune. ;-) Arrived close to New Year's Eve after driving through many miles of snow storms. Entering a strange new town for the first time- very late at night a nutria crossed the road in front of the car!!! OH NO! The Rats are huge here!!! What did I just do???? HEHE :haha: ;)

muskratz will dig burrows in the muddy banks along the waterline, so look for chuck holes that look like whatever dug em has to swim to them.

those would be muskratz....

thats where they extract muskrat love from.

"what makes the muskrat gaurd his musk?
courage." ~the cowardly lion

You'd think that people
Would have had enough
Of silly love songs

Muskrat Love

Muskrat, muskrat candlelight
Doin' the town and doin' it right
In the evenin'
It's pretty pleasin'

Muskrat Susie, Muskrat Sam
Do the jitterbug out in muskrat land
And they shimmy
And Sammy's so skinny

And they whirled and they twirled and they tangoed
Singin' and jingin' the jango
Floatin' like the heavens above
It looks like muskrat love

Nibbling on bacon, chewin' on cheese
Sammy says to Susie "Honey, would you please be my missus?"
And she say yes
With her kisses

And now he's ticklin' her fancy
Rubbin' her toes
Muzzle to muzzle, now anything goes
As they wriggle, and Sue starts to giggle

:haha: :haha: :haha:

Could it have been a snapping turtle? Or was it pretty obvious that it was some sort of mammal?

First and only Nutria I ever saw was at San Marcos, TX. If you can see those orange teeth it is a dead giveaway.

http://tinyurl.com/3kmaz

I don't know where you are in E. Texas, but we have beaver at our place on Lake Athens. And I saw one alligator snapping turtle last year, first ever seen there according to TPWD. Nutria are generally common to E. Texas as well. With the flat tail, it's probably a beaver though. Ours built a new dam in the last two weeks; our golden retriever loves to harass him.

An otter maybe?? Otters do kill fish.

Kodiak

I donno, throw a stick of dynomite in there and see if it comes up.

My vote is the Loch Ness monster is in the US on holiday. :haha:

You know, I've got to point out that there are real regional differences on this board. For example, as a New Englander the possibility that I had an aligator in my pond would just never cross my mind!

YEEEEKKKKKK.

Yeah, the Loch Ness, Big Foot and Elvis were all seen stocking up on snack cakes and slurpies at the local 7-11...

ooh tell people you've seen it in your pond and you could make a fortunate :haha:

Wish you were here.
Nessie.
http://photobucket.com/albums/v344/R...ss_monster.gif

Heh...heh...heh.. :haha: :haha: :p Ya'll are too much.

Now, I MUST know what it is! ....will stake out pond tomorrow. :cool:

Thank you MorrissonCorner - I too am in VT and had the same reaction about an alligator in our pond!! Yikes - snapping turtles maybe but not gators

Nessie's cousin is in South Georgia living in the brown water swamps around the coast. It's called the Altamaha-Ha.

10222

The Altamaha-Ha : Sea Monster Of Darien, GA
The Altamaha-Ha : Sea Monster Of Darien, GA
http://www.gabooks.com/altahaha.shtml



"Although the name may give the impression that this monster is a joke, it has been sighted by seasoned fishermen who say they have never seen such a thing before (and rather wish they never had, from the teasing they have received). Named after the river it frequents, the Altamaha, this mysterious creature is said to be large, dark, has two humps and churns the water in a strange way when surfacing or submerging. The local newspaper, The Darien News, has recorded a number of sightings, while some remain unreported. Darien, Georgia is a small fishing town in the county of McIntosh, which is veined with many waterways and protected from the sea with barrier islands."

.................There are so many Nutria in Florida that they vote AbsentEE . fordy.. :eek: :D

Call National Enquirer. They could pay a pretty penny...

Here's a pic of a beaver in our pond.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...od/beaver2.jpg

And here's a otter also in our pond. Hope this helps some?

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...d/otter011.jpg

If its a gator you may see something resembling a half submerged stick- with a few bumps in front of it. Those would be eye ridges. To guesstimate gator length, the length in intches from snout tip to eye ridges = length in feet. (6 inches snout to eyes = 6 feet length) You can call a lovesick bull agtor in mating season- march-may, by keeping your lips closed and vocalixing a loud swallow. Sounds sorta like "GUMPH!"

Wow great beaver pictures.

Thanks for posting. This is the first time I have heard of Altamaha-Ha. Who knows maybe he is on his holidays with Nessie and that Alligator from the sewers of NY.
http://photobucket.com/albums/v344/R...rs_looking.gif

:) Well, it will be very interesting to find out what it is. To answer a comment from above...the Nutria is not from the 'states. Like so many other aliens it was imported by "fur farmers" and then the market went kaput and the Nutria were all let go. It's the same old story.

LQ

Perhaps it's the Ogopogo down from Canada, eh? A bit cold up north right now, could be it wanted a warm weather vacation!

When I was teen my dad and I planned on making a submarine that we could float about in the lake with, and of course it would look like some sort of swamp thing and scare all the city folk who'd moved out here. The more we thought of it, the more we decided against it because we didn't want to get shot!

Ok Grandmotherbear, WHY would you want to call a gator during mating season? :no: I cautiously (armed) walk the back half my place (swamp) in April and I don't go there during the summer (momma gators with eggs/babies). :eek:

But I love the way you describe their mating call!!! Perfect.

But for the original question. I am not from Tx but my guess is that you unknown friend is an otter and they will clean out your pond. Been there done that!

DeAnn

Well what was the verdict if any?

But I thought
 

I thought the Nutria were brought in to eat the Kudzu (sp?) vine that is killing everything it grows on? Or am I smokin' crack?

Pam :cool: <---------- not sure about the Nutria thing.....

If it's Nutria...
 

...they're edible. We've got them here in Oregon (there are a few in the urban park down the street, drive my dog nuts). I saw a TV show where a chef was cooking nutria at a restaurant in LA...kind of an experiment, I suppose. They were asking the guests (as they were eating) what they thought Nutria might be. "I dunno, some kind of duck?"

Do a google search on Nutria and you'll find all sorts of recipes and info. Or go to www.nutria.com. Now I've got to get back to work!

By the way...my first post here. I've been lurking a few days. Great info...Hello, all!

Don't stand too close, it might be Jimmy hoffa !!!!!!!!

If it's a muskrat shoot it and eat it. They eat duck and goose eggs, better to eat them first :haha:

Ed

I've decided its a beaver...I saw a flat tail. Haven't seen it anymore, my dad said it was probably passing through if i haven't seen it again. Been checking with the binoculars during the day all day when i'm home and .....nothing to be seen or in the evenings. I guess it left who knows?

Well, did you find out what it was? Inquiring minds want to know! LOL

LQ

What LQ said.