THE COYPU RAT. 293 



NUTRIA OR COYPU RAT. 



The Coypu Rat (Myopotamus-coypus), generally 

 known in commerce as "Nutria," which is the proper 

 Spanish name for Otter, is sometimes called the South 

 American Beaver, because it is an aquatic animal some- 

 what like the Beaver in appearance and habits, swimming 

 and diving with ease, and making its burrows in the 

 banks of lakes and rivers it frequents, or where the banks 

 are low building a nest on a platform in the reeds. It 

 belongs, however, to the Rat family, of which it is the 

 largest representative, being about two feet long, ex- 

 clusive of the tail which measures from nine to ten inches. 



The Coypu Rat is found only in South America. It ranges 

 south on both sides of the Andes from Chili and Peru, being 

 most abundant in Brazil and the Argentine Republic. Like 

 the Beaver, it has a close, dense under-fur, protected by a 

 covering of water hairs about three inches long. The 

 tail is scaly, but has a thin covering of short hairs. Each 

 of the feet have five toes, those on the hind limbs being 

 connected by a web. It is characterized by the very large 

 size of its incisor teeth, and by the upper molars having 

 two folds of enamel on each side, while the lower ones 

 have only one external and three internal folds. It is 

 very prolific, bringing forth six or eight young at a time. 

 The annual collection for years ranged from three hundred 

 thousand to five hundred thousand skins. 



The general color of the Coypu Rat is a speckled yel- 

 lowish brown, but many are light brown in color all over, 

 and some are nearly white, while others are almost black 

 on the back. The best way to flay this animal is by out- 

 ting it up the back so as to preserve in one piece the good 

 short under fur on the belly. 



At one time this fur was used only for "cutting, "that 

 is for making hats; but when dehaired, the under-fur 

 can be dyed to make one of the finest appearing substi- 

 tutes for seal skin, and in this way it was for many years 

 used by furriers in the manufacture of muffs, neck pieces, 

 coats, and sleigh robes. It lost its hold on popular 

 favor because the fur is inclined to curl or crinkle when 



