# Capybara-like animals in Minnesota? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 25, 2010, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/capybara-like-animals-in-minnesota/537282 "2010-04-25T06:15:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2010, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/capybara-like-animals-in-minnesota/537282/61 "2010-04-28T15:38:19Z")
> [@lieu](#): > > Admittedly I had absolutely no idea the the U.S. Geological Survey was in the least bit concerned with the distribution of and efforts to eradicate nutria. Go figure. That’s basically because the USGS has the responsibility to conduct research on a lot of natural resources, issues, including [invasive species](http://biology.usgs.gov/invasive/) like nutria. ---
**Author:** ![TimeWinder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bcef8e/32.png) [@TimeWinder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TimeWinder)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2010, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/capybara-like-animals-in-minnesota/537282/62 "2010-04-28T16:16:48Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > That’s basically because the USGS has the responsibility to conduct research on a lot of natural resources, issues, including [invasive species](http://biology.usgs.gov/invasive/) like nutria. Well, that and the other stuff they track moves in geologic scales, so they’ve got lots of free time: “Yep, the mountain’s still where we left it yesterday, how’s 'bout we go track some oversize rats again?” ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2010, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/capybara-like-animals-in-minnesota/537282/63 "2010-04-28T16:52:51Z")
> [@TimeWinder](#): > > Well, that and the other stuff they track moves in geologic scales Ideally. When that kind of stuff is moving in real-time, it’s usually because things have gone completely to hell. I bet the nightmares of USGS personnel generally involve Yellowstone… ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2010, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/capybara-like-animals-in-minnesota/537282/64 "2010-04-28T17:25:50Z")
> [@MeanOldLady](#): > > See, you don’t understand, my fear is not based in reason. > > Anyway, I think the mystery is solved; I am almost certain that it was an extremely large beaver. It fits the description of my general memory, amid several other factors that make it seem as if that was what I saw. For bonus material, when I told my friend that I saw a huge-as-shit rodent by the river, she commented on seeing scarily large beavers which are cool, in her words, “until they attack you.” Heh, are beavers even ill-tempered? The wikipedia “Behavior” section told me very little. > > Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, this thread can die, or we can commence the beaver jokes. Beavers get very angry if you get between them and their wood. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2010, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/capybara-like-animals-in-minnesota/537282/65 "2010-04-28T22:06:18Z")
> [@SmellMyWort](#): > > Capybara don’t have tails. Obviously, the USGS has cut off all of their tails. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2010, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/capybara-like-animals-in-minnesota/537282/66 "2010-04-29T12:37:25Z")
Perhaps it was one of Stephen Hawking’s aliens? ---
**Author:** ![Snickers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Snickers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snickers)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2010, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/capybara-like-animals-in-minnesota/537282/67 "2010-04-29T18:40:02Z")
Huh. And one of those nutria pockets looks like it’s right around Minneapolis-town, too - at least it’s not far. This is almost as good as the time I saw a stag running down a busy, divided road outside UWM in Milwaukee. Glad it didn’t eat you, **MOL**. ---
**Author:** ![Carptracker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ac91a4/32.png) [@Carptracker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carptracker)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2010, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/capybara-like-animals-in-minnesota/537282/68 "2010-04-29T20:09:50Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > That’s basically because the USGS has the responsibility to conduct research on a lot of natural resources, issues, including [invasive species](http://biology.usgs.gov/invasive/) like nutria. The Biological Resources Division of the Geological Survey (I know it’s weird) got its start in the Clinton administration, when Clinton and Babbit (Sec. of Interior) decided to move all of the biological research out of the Fish and Wildlife Service and the Park Service and some other smaller Interior agencies (like the Bureau of Mines, for example) into one new agency. This was because all of those agencies have agendas and mandates that in theory could bias science. The idea was to make a new agency that would be modelled after USGS, a highly respected paragon of unbiased research. This agency was to be called the National Biological Survey (because USBS sounds bad). Congress did not like that, because it was all done without consulting them, and so they threatened to redline the agency (cut out all funding). There was also a lot of unfounded hyperbole put out by those trying to make trouble for the administration that professed that this new agency would be out surveying everybody’s private land and looking for endangered species so that they could control what you do with your land. For this reason, the short-lived agency’s name was changed to the National Biological Service. This still did not sufficiently mollify congress, so as a compromise measure the entire new agency was rolled into the USGS, where it became the Biological Resources Division. Oddly, it works pretty well, most of the time. The original intent of the Clinton administration has been achieved, probably with somewhat less overhead than would have been required with a totally new agency. ---
**Author:** ![Carptracker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ac91a4/32.png) [@Carptracker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carptracker)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2010, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/capybara-like-animals-in-minnesota/537282/69 "2010-04-29T20:13:32Z")
Oh, and although beaver is in my opinion the most likely culprit, if this does happen to be a nutria, there are people who would be very interested in that. Nutria do terrible things to wetlands, and they can live that far north. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2010, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/capybara-like-animals-in-minnesota/537282/70 "2010-04-29T20:58:08Z")
> [@Carptracker](#): > > Oh, and although beaver is in my opinion the most likely culprit, if this does happen to be a nutria, there are people who would be very interested in that. Nutria do terrible things to wetlands, and they can live that far north. Yeah, they’ve become a real scourge in Seattle and Washington state. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/capybara-like-animals-in-minnesota/537282.md?page=3)