Otters

mickster1978 · #1 (**permalink**) 25-05-2010, 11:48 AM

Will Otters scavenge?

I am going to a known strong hold for otters in a few weeks... I have a cottage on a shore line where I know they wil be but having never seen one, I was to do all I can to get a good view.

I will be fishing and as such, will have some fish heads, guts (ewww!!) and wondered, if I was to leave them on the shore, do you think that it would attract an otter to scavange???

This is obviously if gulls dont get them, but I know there isnt that many gulls around there.

Thoughts?!?!

bigdave60dog · #2 (**permalink**) 25-05-2010, 11:56 AM

Don`t really know if theu scavenge. I LIVE in a cottage by the shoeline where there are plenty of otters but rarely see any.
They are really secretive (They were hunted for their pelt even since the second world war) and good at avoiding being seen.
I DO see plenty but never when expected or when I go out looking for otters.
Just by accident when looking from my windows or of an evening when the sun is going down and I take a last look and listen at the bay I may catch an otter on the road or shore by surprise.
Happy otter spotting.
Dave

paulthomas · #3 (**permalink**) 25-05-2010, 01:36 PM

Raw fish is probably your best bet although something else will probably take it long before the otter comes along. Even if the otter did find it I have no idea whether he'd take it.

TALLYHO · #4 (**permalink**) 25-05-2010, 05:25 PM

Otters will eat a fairly Catholic Piscine diet.

Many years ago Otters would see the European Eel as its prime food item, however with numbers of this species plummeting to between 5-10% of the levels which we saw some 40 years or so ago they would not survive in the numbers that they do presently if Eels were their only food source.

I have seem Otters attack and eat both Trout and Perch, mainly concentrating on the fishes organs for their food and leaving the majority of the flesh.

It is a real privelege to watch an Otter hunting for food.

dampflippers · #5 (**permalink**) 25-05-2010, 05:53 PM

I've heard of photographers using fish heads to attract them.

mickster1978 · #6 (**permalink**) 26-05-2010, 07:33 AM

Thanks guys!!

Helpful.

I can only try I gues and see if anything comes along!!

I will have my camera with me, so if I get any pics, i will post them on here!

(also a great place for pine marten, red deer, golden eagles and Sea Eagles, so hoping to get some pics even if Mr Otter doesnt fall for my fish left on the rocks!!)

Cheers

Mike

Mark_b · #7 (**permalink**) 03-06-2010, 02:50 PM

I thought I replied to this topic but I guess not.

Otters do not just feed on fish. Amphibians also play very important part in their diet throughout the year. Spraint analysis research undertaken at Swansea University has shown duck and gull bones present in their faeces, whether these animals were predated or scavenged is unknown. On the first episode of "Halcyon River Diaries" on bbc it shows an otter predating mallard ducklings.

BBC iPlayer - Halcyon River Diaries: Early Spring