Federal wildlife officials are promoting a unique strategy to help eliminate nutria, the pesky critters that have invaded California’s Delta: Eat ’em. Turns out that nutria, a giant rodent that looks like an outsized guinea pig, can be a mouth-watering entree. “Their meat is lean, mild and tastes like rabbit,” the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says, urging the consumption of nutria and four other bothersome invasive species. Nutrias have been particularly troublesome in the Delta because they can reproduce quickly and are tearing up the marshlands. A single female can birth up to 200 offspring in a year, and their burrowing causes erosion of riverbanks. Plus, they have a voracious appetite. A single nutria can consume up to 25% of its body weight in vegetation a day.

Related article:

• Smithsonian magazine: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service wants you to eat these giant, invasive rodents