Otter photos

[JeffH]

During our holiday on the west coast of Scotland in late May my wife and I were fortunate enough to see several Otters.

However, our best views came one evening whilst sitting on the balcony of our lochside lodge. My wife spotted an Otter in the loch and it then came ashore right beneath our balcony and proceeded to eat some sort of shellfish.

It was clearly well aware of our presence but stayed there for at least 10 minutes before swimming away.

Here's my ten best photos of the event, I hope you like them -





















Closer to home (but still Otter related), recently I was doing a rough survey of a relatively new balancing pond on the outskirts of our village in the company of our local Council's ecology officer and a representative of Natural England, the purpose being to discuss ideas for the construction of a Kingfisher nest bank.

Whilst doing so the ecology officer found two halves of quite a large terrapin shell, one of which still had remnants of flesh attached. His theory was that someone had probably tired of keeping the terrapin as a pet and had released it into the pond only for it to be killed by an Otter

The ecology officer told me he had found Otter spraints in the drain feeding the pond on a previous visit and, sure enough, he then found another near to where the drain enters the pond. I shall have to keep an eye on this pond

Jeff

[deer boy]

A fantastic sequence of pics there Jeff thanks for sharing

[JeffH]

Thanks deer boy

Jeff

[shirl]

Absolutely stunning, I can't remember the last time I saw an otter in the wild, you were so lucky to be able to watch them. Hope you find the otters closer to home.

Shirl

[pammosley]

Beautiful photos, I`ve yet to see a wild otter. Thanks for sharing the photos with us, Pam

[Chris Hawes]

Some lovely photos there Jeff, and what a great scene to witness! I saw a few otters on Mull last year but never managed to get close enough for a photo.

Well done.

[aeshna5]

Superb sequence of Otter photos- well done + thanks for sharing.

I was also fascinated by the terrapin predation- perhaps they thought it was a new sort of crustacean!

[Rob_D]

Cracking photos Jeff. How close were you?

[Tracey.A]

Loved the photos of the otter, you are so lucky! What an amazing experience and the otter seemed to love the camera. I'm full of envy! I've only seen an otter through a scope and at some distance.

I was fascinated about the terrapin shell that was found and the fact that it was an otter that preyed upon it, what with the signs that had been found it couldn't have been anything else. The otter must have thought it the hardest mussel shell it had ever encountered It's a shame that some people are dumping their terrapins in ponds and lakes etc,. I've heard about terrapins being found in these sort of habitats before and I wonder what the effect is on our native wildlife.

Fascinating post!

Tracey

[deer boy]

Originally Posted by Tracey.A

I wonder what the effect is on our native wildlife.
Tracey

One of my mates has a terrapin & he said they've fed it frogs before, it's not a pretty site apparently.
I would imagine they'll eat most things small enough