From Science Daily, "20 nutria brought to Louisiana in the 1930s bred an estimated 20 million animals within two decades,". Estimate the growth rate (in % per year) of nutria; what is the doubling time of the population? If these animals have three sets of offspring each year, what would the average family size be (does this number agree with the estimate in Science Daily)? "The maximum length of life of nutria kept in captivity is as great as 12 years, but is probably much less in the wild."
Images 23 and 24 show evidence of the wetland's past: seepage of methane and oil from the mud, and the layers of wood debris and garbage that once was here. It could be that the oil came from a motor boat and the bubbles from a turtle, but that's less likely (a canoe paddle poked into the mud produced a great cloud of bubbles)?
