Nutria: It’s What’s for Dinner
March 27th, 2008 by admin
Well, we survived New Orleans, if only barely. The idea to drive all night to get there seemed like a good one at the time, but it left our sleep schedules a little whacked.
AnYwAy, we went on a swamp tour, where we saw many, many alligators. This one charged the boat as soon as we set off, although I’m relatively certain he just wanted a marshmallow. Alligators LOVE marshmallows.
There were a ton of gators out that day – here are the best shots I got:
There were also snakes:
And all manner of cool birds:
This is my favorite ‘gator shot. This guy is 14-16 feet long, blind in one eye, and really bad at catching marshmallows. He managed to get this one, though:
This was our tour guide, Captain Tom. He’s been on the Discovery Channel several times, as well as on Andrew Zimmer’s “Bizarre Foods,” which brings us to our title.
What Captain Tom is holding is a nutria pelt, skull and tail. We didn’t see any of these in the wild because, although not the brightest animals on the planet, nutria are just bright enough move inland as soon as there’s greenery around so they don’t get picked off the edges of the swamp by ‘gators. Here’s what one looks like all put together:
It is essentially a big rat. Kind of a cute rat, but a rat nonetheless. The population of these critters numbers roughly 8 MILLION in Louisiana alone. Therefore, there is a bounty on them. Anyone who kills a nutria gets 5 bucks for the tail, and the pelts are supposedly replacing mink in the fur industry (note to Joe: you could make a tidy living down there, and have fun doing it!). They are also being used as a food source, so if you travel to Louisiana I suggest you ask exactly what’s in the gumbo before you chow down. *shudder*
The rest of the trip consisted of restaurants, clubs, and the only gay diner I’ve ever heard of, which serves an excellent breakfast 24/7. Here are a couple of highlights from the French Quarter:
All in all it was a fun trip. I only wish we could have stayed longer so that we didn’t feel like we had to cram so much into just a few days. Oh, and we did get to walk on the beach when we stopped in Gulf Shores to visit Jen’s parents, which is always good for the soul.
Next week it’s back to school!
Jennifer wrote on 04/1/08 at 1:19 pm :
That is awesome! I am so jealous!
Creatine and Fat Loss wrote on 02/3/09 at 5:29 pm :
Interesting site. I’ll definitely be back. Thanks again, Kameron