The invasive species, nutria, is a large, semiaquatic rodent increasingly found in marshes in the United States. As a part of its National Invasive Species Awareness Week, which ended on Friday ...

Serving as parade grand marshal will be Neuty the Nutria, who was rescued as a baby by a Metairie family in 2020 and given permission by Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries to live with them as a pet.

The nutria is a large, semiaquatic rodent species native to South America that has developed into an invasive species as it continues to crop up in marshes and swamps across the United States.

Eight years have passed since a reproducing population of nutria was found in western Merced County — their first discovery in the state since the 1970s. Despite eradication efforts that began ...