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 Nutria Rat - Dog Treats ? 
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Post Nutria Rat - Dog Treats ?
Ok ---- https://www.yahoo.com/news/rodent-pest- ... 41933.html


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Sat Sep 07, 2019 9:24 am
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Post Re: Nutria Rat - Dog Treats ?
PECAN ISLAND — Drive until you see the Gulf of Mexico, and before you hit the water take the last
left on a dirt road. That's where Justin Choate lives.

Choate, 43, has been around Louisiana's waters all of his life. He started working those marshes,
streams and bayous with his father at the age of 9.

When he's not serving as an alligator guide, he's out hunting nutria, the invasive, orange-toothed
swamp rodent that's devouring Louisiana's coast.

The state's marshes are so overrun with nutria that it doesn't take long for Choate to bag enough
to call it a day. A couple of times a week during hunting season, from November to March, he's
out from daylight to 10 a.m. and then 3 p.m. to dark. It's easier working the swamps during
the coolest hours.

Choate kills at least 120 nutria a week, as many as 6,000 a season — his best day: 238 nutria
in less than 11 hours.

If he doesn't kill them with his rifle, one of his three chocolate labs — Jake, Buck or Duke — will
spot one, kill it and bring it back to the boat. Some days, the hunting dogs are quicker than Choate.

For the longest time, he and other hunters had only a few uses for the dead nutria — skin them
for the fur, turn their tail in for $6 each from the state and use the rest as alligator bait.

But now there's another reason to make nutria a target. The destructive mammal that has hastened
the loss of hundreds of miles of Louisiana coast now can serve as the main ingredient in dog treats.

'This is not the wild west': Florida officials clarify stance on green iguanas, urging safety over hunting

Nutria as treats
Hansel Harlan wants to convert Louisiana's nutria problem into a nationally distributed dog biscuit.
Marsh Dog, the Baton Rouge pet food company he co-founded, uses wild nutria as the main
ingredient in its new generation of dog treats.

In 2012, the company received a grant from the Barataria-Terrebonne National Estuary Program
to begin production of the dog treats, which mostly have been sold in Louisiana stores. But now
Marsh Dog has partnered with a larger manufacturer, tweaked its production process and set its
sights on building the brand.

The goal is to help to eliminate as many nutria as possible to reduce the destruction of Louisiana
wetlands. There are no other commercially produced dog treats that use protein from
non-domesticated mammals like nutria taken from the wild, Harlan said.

The company gets its nutria from the 4.1 million-acre estuary, located between the Mississippi
and Atchafalaya rivers in south Louisiana.

Marsh Dog gets the majority of its nutria meat from the 400 licensed trappers in the state, most
of whom participate in the nutria control program with Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries.

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Sat Sep 07, 2019 9:25 am
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Post Re: Nutria Rat - Dog Treats ?
Although the number of nutria killed by trappers each year has decreased, Harlan and his business
partners hope to help increase that number.

After the state control program began, 2010's hunting season ended with a record 445,936 nutria
killed. That number dropped to a low of just over 170,000 killed in the 2018 season and about
223,000 killed when the last season ended in March.

With nutria averaging about six to 10 pounds each and each providing nearly half that in usable meat,
Marsh Dog uses hundreds of thousands of pounds each year for their biscuits. The company could get
rid of more than 55,000 nutria each year.

The company “found a sustainable solution for the planet,” said Dr. Marvin Moncada, research and
development food scientist at Louisiana State University's AgCenter Food Incubator. He worked with
Marsh Dog to reformulate their products and extend shelf life. “Why kill it if you won’t use it?”

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Sat Sep 07, 2019 9:29 am
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Post Re: Nutria Rat - Dog Treats ?
Harlan came across the unconventional meat thanks to his dog, Chien du Marais, French for
Marsh Dog, who has chronic allergies. He developed the recipe so it wouldn't trigger an allergic
reaction.


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Sat Sep 07, 2019 9:31 am
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