coypu

[droid 11]

There was a big campaign to exterminate them in East Anglia 30 years or so ago.

 

Mate's wife's father was an old-style marsh man and kept one as a pet. When the exoermination people asked him about it, he claimed it was a ferret. A 3 foot high ferret with big yellow teeth that ate apples....yeah....

 

They never did get it.

 

The buggers do a lot of damage to river banks, so you should be able to spot where they are easy enough.

[comanche 2,875]

There were a few killed in Sussex many yeaers ago but the hold- out area was East Anglia .Basicly they were introduced to fur farms (Nutria is the commercial name of the fur) ,I think about the late 1920's. Some escaped but others were simply let loose when the farms failed to make the expected profits if the stories are true. They undermined banks and destroyed the natural vegetation of the fens as well as damaging acres of root crops .

As far as i remember there was a massive campaign in the 70's into the early 's to not just control them but to totaly exterminate them in this country. A time -scale for this work was agreed upon and coypu controllers engaged . If the stories are true the programme went well and the clean-up was completed ahead of schedule. On this basis ,so the story goes , the coypu controllers were awarded bonuses but only on the understanding that they were liable to be called on should any remnent population of coypu come to light within ten years . That's the story that was circulating but It would be great if anyone actually involved with the cull could put a post up with some accurate information.

 

A bit of an aside . Whilst on a riding(well sitting on a very quiet ,elderly horse ) holiday in Norfolk wit my girlfriend of the time I got very excited at the brief sight of coypu alongside a waterway. She who could ride properly but was also equipped with a scathing toungue assured me that I was seeing things again . Well what did we see parked at the side of the road around the next bend ? A little grey van emblazoned with the words "Coypu Control".!

[MuttleMcTuttle 21]

I have heard rumours of coypu lurking in dark dank ditches in the fens... but then I've heard a lot more rumours about the fens too...

 

Commanche - that's about the size of it, although I heard a rumour that when the coypu were getting scarce some of the exterminators would cut the tails off and let em go again... but was only a rumour

I can remember the little grey vans, and the coypu controller was a regular visitor although we never found coypu a great problem. I thought they were rather cute actually

[comanche 2,875]

I have heard rumours of coypu lurking in dark dank ditches in the fens... but then I've heard a lot more rumours about the fens too...

 

Commanche - that's about the size of it, although I heard a rumour that when the coypu were getting scarce some of the exterminators would cut the tails off and let em go again... but was only a rumour

I can remember the little grey vans, and the coypu controller was a regular visitor although we never found coypu a great problem. I thought they were rather cute actually

 

 

 

The old tail off and release scam .That might explain why they had to offer a bonus to get the job done properly .

 

Mate ,you've made my day! That little grey van(Escort ,Marina,Ital?) is something that has stuck in my head for near 30 years .

 

Cute.... Yes .They had a stuffed one in Bramber museum but it had been made to look like a ravening monster with bared ,snarling ,yellow teeth.Did'nt ring true at all. After-all they are really just big aquatic guinea-pigs.