California nutria hunting

I read the same articles, and it sounds like the invasive species management professionals expect to be able to completely eradicate the nutria without needing assistance from the public at hunting them.

They're actively soliciting help from members of the public to report any new sightings of nutria. When they get a new report, they respond by

1. Monitoring the area for nutria, using intensive monitoring methods and equipment (trained nutria-detecting dogs, trail cameras, traps, etc).
2. If they confirm nutria in that area, hunting down and eradicating those nutria.
3. Continuing to monitor the area for as long as necessary to confirm the nutria are completely eradicated.

That intensive of a detection, eradication and monitoring program doesn't usually leave much room for members of the public to help with hunting and eradication. Where they would need that kind of help is if the nutria do get out of hand, and nutria populations increase to the point where they don't have the resources to control them. At that point they might want help from hunters and trappers to keep the populations under control.

What you could do is contact the CDFW and ask if you can volunteer to help with the program. My guess is they have plenty of funding for step 2, so they don't need any help with eradication. But they may welcome help with steps 1 or 3.

posted almost 5 years ago

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csk‭

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