mammal ID help

[paulnj]

I shot this in Houston Tx at dusk in a flood plain adjacent to a big city park. Now I know it appears to be a muskrat, but this thing was easily 40 pound in my estimation! Is everything really " BIG IN TEXAS" ?

BTW , I have seen them on 2 trips , so they must be living there.(4 of them at least)

[Chunk]

This invasive species is brought to you courtesy of Tabasco whose founder had them brought in from South America for a private zoo or something on his Avery Island estate.

Google "Nutria"

[Outdoorsman]

I'll put up another vote for nutria. These things were common in Oregon when I lived there (Eugene area) and they were considered a pest animal; as Chunk said, an invasive species. I would reccommend shooting it with something a little more lethal than a camera...

[Speed]

I shot this in Houston Tx at dusk in a flood plain adjacent to a big city park. Now I know it appears to be a muskrat, but this thing was easily 40 pound in my estimation! Is everything really " BIG IN TEXAS" ?

BTW , I have seen them on 2 trips , so they must be living there.(4 of them at least)

Pest indeed. Nutria are rather destructive critters. And they are spreading all across the country. We've got them in North Carolina as well.

[almo]

I'm late to the table, but it's a Nutria for sure. We got those lil' bastards all over the place down here.

[Asylum Steve]

Well, it's a pretty bad picture (of course, now that I know about your scar-eye, I'm giving you some slack, heh heh), but I'm reasonably sure that's a Western Spotted Black Head Slime-Snouted Alamo Lumberjack Weasel.

Uh, scientific name: mustela texmexicana

What gives them away is that you can draw a straight line from their nostril throught their eye to their ear.

As you've discovered, the Lumberjack Weasels spend most of their time floating on large logs sunning themselves and looking for dragonflies to eat. And btw, they're only considered "spotted" after you see them...

[paulnj]

Well after I posted this image I gave google one last try with a search of "aquatic mammal in texas" and came up with this nasty critter's name.

As for bad quality(I agree) .... it was shot at ISO 640 , 1/10TH , 400MM HANDHELD dude... then I cropped it down to 30-40 % of the frame

BTW.... had I known it was that bad I WOULD have put a 9mm slug through it

OH WAIT, I had my 45 on me that trip