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Ascension Parish seeing nutria problem

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ASCENSION PARISH – Nutria are seeking their teeth into the peace of mind of residents in Ascension Parish.

The rodents have been digging into a family's property and it seems to be a wide-spread problem throughout the area that keep animal removal specialists busy.

Nutria have been digging their way through the sides of one neighborhood retention pond and heading straight towards Clarence Leblanc's home.

"You can hear them grunting, and stuff, and I've seen about four of them and my neighbor says he's seen six of them," Leblanc said.

The nutria presence is so bad that when Leblanc steps out to fish, he has to stay away from the area near the holes because he is worried that it might cave in.

"You know sometimes I go out there fishing and I don't want to fall in it, you know, and hurt myself and here a lot of the kids pass back here on bikes and stuff and I'd hate to see one of them fall and hurt themselves real bad," Leblanc.

The LeBlanc family is not alone in dealing with the issues as nutria are a problem all throughout south Louisiana and love to dig dens.

"It's anywhere, you go anywhere in town where there's a lake, they're going to have nutria, sooner or later, if they don't have them now they're coming and they're going to be there," David Rudy, animal removal specialist, said.

Animal removal specialists like Rudy go out to Ascension Parish to catch the rodents on a daily basis.

"It's pretty bed, I mean we're to the point of an epidemic," Rudy said.

According to Rudy, Nutria are relentless creatures and capable of causing serious damage.

The parish government said they are not responsible for removing wildlife, so residents who have a problem with nutria are encouraged to contact a company that specializes in animal removal.

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