Something old, something nutria

This weekend we went for a walk in Hermann Park, a huge public park near our house. It's a great place: walking paths, bike paths, ponds, a Zen garden, an open-air theater, a tiny train on a tiny track. The Houston Zoo and the Museum of Natural Science are there, too. It's really the Central Park of Houston. On Sunday it was teeming with families and with wildlife. We spotted babies and birds, dogs and ducks, tots and turtles. Then we came across this:

It's a nutria! I had never seen one before -- I'd only heard of them and even then doubted that they actually existed. It reminds me of a guinea pig. And an otter. Kind of a beaver with a long rat tail. There were at least five of them, just hanging out next to the path, by the water. "Wait," I thought. "We're not IN the zoo, are we? We're just next to it, right?"

Here's what some quick Internet research reveals about the nutria:

• It is a herbivorous rodent.


• It is originally from South America but can be seen worldwide now. It is considered an invasive species by many.


• It has webbed hind feet.
  
• It was introduced in Louisiana in the 1930s for its fur, but its destructive habits (eating aquatic vegetation; eroding river banks by burrowing; and munching on tires, houses, etc.) led to a massive eradication program a few years ago.


• It can host a parasite that can infect human skin, causing "Nutria Itch."
  
• It is nocturnal. (Our friends were having a late-night snack?)


• It is not a muskrat. (Didn't Nixon say that?)
  

Nuits a Paris... avec nutria-lined coat on right... early 1950s: