Otter film at last

[And]

Thank you for taking the time to share all that with us. So much better than I expected - Springwatch would have killed for that footage! Anybody reading and wondering if it's worth the bother clicking on the links - it is!

[Malx]

Fantastic job, Sir!
Was amused by the little dog-like shake [Wk 3] as it first comes onto dry land.

The scrabbling with the fore paws thing:- at first I thought it was after worms or some sort of food, but was it not having a sort of dust bath? Flicking up dust onto its underside?
Or is the scratching into the earth a way to transmit its scent; just as it went round sniffing the dark patches (left by other animals) later on?

?

By the way, do please tell us where you're hiding "Highlights Week 2" as well, ta!

[The Woodman]

The sand scratching activity is done to form a small sand heap on which the Otter spraints after turning round. The spraint can be seen in the footage.

This is usually done on sandbanks where there is no prominent feature e.g. rock or log on which to spraint.

It is sometimes done when an availble feature is being used regularly by another Otter.

[Mike H]

Hi Guys,
Thanks for the comments. Glad you enjoyed the footage.

Malx I am afraid there are no Highlights of Week 2. In week 2 I had the trail camera on the other bank. Its clear from the spraint evidence that the otters use that bank. However all I got that week was a rat and a rabbit! That’s wildlife for you, never does exactly what you expect it to do! Still this would not be so much fun if it did!

At the moment the project is on hold whilst I finish reviewing all the footage to make sure I have not missed anything and I produce a “directors cut” of all the footage in the sequence it occurred so I can review it in more detail. Sure I have at least two otters in the CCTV footage too but that’s just based on a sudden change in routine and body language. So I guess i need more practice in spotting who is who.

After that, I am not sure yet. Ideally I want to put more kit out at sites up and downstream from the current site and / or cover more of the current site so I get a better idea of the otter’s nightly routines. But not sure yet how practical that is going to be.

This whole exercise is one big experiment and at this stage I am just glad anything worked at all!

Mike

[RobinP]

Fantastic! I'm looking forward to the ball-juggling and song and dance acts next

[Malx]

Cheers for the info, guys, and do keep the otter updates coming.

New word for me today - 'spraint'.

[camo]

Hi mike

i have just watched your clips which were great, it is really good to see the actions that create the signs we look for.

I was particularly interested to watch the scratching which is a common sign that Otters use to increase the height of their spraint and make the territory marking stronger by getting air around the spraint. What surprised me was that the Otter made three mounds in one visit and whilst you can see that it did not use the first mound it went on to deposit spraint on the other two. I think generally we do not understand the power of scent marking and i have a theory that Otter particularly like bridges because the bridge creates a window tunnel effect and thus increases the power of their scent marking. May be the Otter decided thatthe first mound was very close to the overhanging grass and was not as effective as the second mound. Perhaps i am reading too much into the Otters actions but Otters either through trial and error or logic are very deliberate about their spraint location.

Roy