An invasion of dangerous three-foot rat-like creatures with orange teeth is wreaking havoc across California, threatening the safety of residents and the state’s economy.

Nearly 1,000 nutria – one of the largest rodent species – had already been hunted down in the Bay Area this year.

But the creatures have now made way into Contra Costa County’s California Delta – which is one the state’s most crucial water sources and ecological sites, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

Also known as Coypu, the animals, which weigh around 20 pounds, pose a threat to humans, livestock and pets, and cause widespread destruction across wetlands. 

They are known to carry tapeworms and are hosts for potentially deadly diseases such as tuberculosis and septicemia. They are also carriers for blood and liver flukes that can lead to infection through exposure to contaminated water, according to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. 

Nutria look similar to beavers, with the distinction of highly arched backs and ‘long, thin, round, sparsely haired tails rather than wide, flat tails like that of a beaver,’ according to the CFWD. 

The rodents are usually found near permanent water sources and have large bright orange teeth as well as a white muzzle and whiskers. 

Since the first nutria, a pregnant female, was discovered on a private wetland in March of 2017 in California, 5,042 of the species have been killed in the state. 

Officials are urging locals to ‘immediately’ report and photograph any sightings or potential signs of their presence to their state wildlife department. 

California Department of Fish and Wildlife spokesman Peter Tira told SFGate: ‘We cannot have nutria reproducing in the delta. The threat to California’s economy is too great.’

The spread is particularly alarming due to the animal’s prolific reproductive rate – with females giving birth to as many as 27 offspring per year. 

They also breed all year round, producing two to three litters each with two to nine young per litter. 

On top of this there is no natural predator keeping its population in check. 

In some states, including California, the rodents are listed on the prohibited species list, which outlaws their importation, possession, exchange, purchase, sale and transportation. 

It is legal to shoot the animal outside of city limits or wildlife control officers can kill them using humane euthanasia. 

The highly destructive species is known to cause significant losses in crops and weaken levees due to their burrowing. 

Their effect on ecosystems also poses a threat to rare and endangered species and plants that rely on the marshland.

Each nutria is able to consume up to 25 percent of its body weight per day. But Krysten Kellum of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife said they ‘waste and destroy up to ten times as much’, according to SFGate.

The CFWD added: ‘Nutria do not construct dens, they burrow, frequently causing water-retention or flood control levees to breach, weakening structural foundations, and eroding banks,’ reported the San Francisco Chronicle.

The California Delta, where the nutria are now starting to inhabit, helps to channel water to cities and farms across the state, making it easier for rodents to spread into yet more regions. 

Tides push salt water into the Delta from the Pacific, and freshwater travels into the Delta from the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers and then through the leveed channels into San Pablo Bay, San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean. 

United States Geological Survey said that, when necessary, water from the Sacramento River is diverted and pumped through leveed canals toward California Aqueduct and the Delta-Mendota Canal. 

This water ends up being consumed by humans and used for agricultural purposes throughout Central and Southern California.

Since the aquatic invasion of the rodents, the California Department of Water Resources issued a dire – and equally hilarious – warning about the nutria.

Pitting the creature as a ‘two-faced creature’ straight out of a horror movie, the DWS created a movie-like poster that said that although the animal was ‘so cute,’ the rodent was a ‘monster’.

‘Behind that cure exterior lies a monster. Beware of the dark side of the nutria. They may look harmless, but they are invasive rodents that have the ability to destroy wetlands and damage levees,’ the DWS wrote.

Nutria are also causing problems beyond California, with reports of issues in Oregon.

In fact, feral populations have now become established in 17 states, including Louisiana, Washington, Oregon and California.