IT made headlines for days after being photographed outside a house in Rozel…
But now there is growing speculation that the runaway coypu may have died – but not, it seems, before giving itself a tour of the Island.
Several people have reported spotting the body of a coypu way out west on the Five Mile Road.
Writing on Facebook, an Islander said: ‘I’ve just heard from a friend that she saw what sounds like a dead coypu on the road by Jersey Pearl (St Ouen’s Bay).
‘Apparently when she drove back to investigate it had gone. Definitely dead but possibly picked up by a passerby.. anyone have any info on anyone finding a dead coypu?’
Another Islander commented: ‘I saw it too! I didn’t stop but a bird was pecking at it. I thought it was a rabbit at first but then saw the massive tail!’
But comments on the same post have raised the possibility that the rodent, dubbed the ‘Beast from the East’, may not have been alone.
‘I thought I saw one the other morning in St John’s on the main road just past St John’s Manor and Rue de Chemin,’ wrote an Islander.
‘My first instinct that it was a massive brown rat but it was way bigger than a rat it was nestled into the bank, I don’t think it was alive I had my two dogs with me and it didn’t move as I walked passed, I couldn’t stop to investigate as too many cars were driving past.’
The coypu spotted last month is believed to have swum over from France, where they live along river banks.
The government’s Natural Environment team says it has no update on the coypu, but has reminded Islanders that they can report sightings on 441674. Out of office hours, the Natural Environment duty officer can be contacted on 441617.
