Finding signs of Otters?

[zan]

Hiya,

I'm off to Mull for a couple of days next week, partly to look for otters and I was wondering if anyone had any advice for what signs \ markings to look for in the habitat to tell if otters are around? I'm helping out on a field course, and while I know a bit of the theory side, it would be great to get some practical in-the-field tips before I go

Cheers!

[Dogghound]

On rocky shores good signs to look out for are footprints in sand/mud, look at some photo's and become familiar with them they are very distinctive. Spraints which are usually on prominent rocks or grass tussocks, raised ground tree stumps etc usually away from the tide line often where a river flows to the sea, they can sometimes create a mound of sand or mud and spraint on that. Again these are distinctive tarry and black, turning crumbly and grey/brown with age and have a sweet smell. If you look around rock pools are concealed areas of coast you might find feeding sites with the remains of fish and shellfish, they usually start at the head and work their way down the fish and often leave the tail. In Mull if you stay quite and put in abit of time you may see one without having to look for signs they are very diurnal on offshore islands and coastal areas using the tide instead of daylight to dictate feeding, compared to ones on rivers inland. Low tide would be a good time to look.

[zan]

Cool, thanks for that You can learn a decent amount of theory for these things, but it's always really helpful to speak to someone who has actually done it before! I'll keep an eye out and see what we find

[Dogghound]

You will have a great time. Ive been an seen otters there in the past. It is a fantastic place, dont forget to look out for eagles too.

[The Woodman]

There are some photos of otter on Mull in Ottersite that might give you some idea of how they look on the shoreline and other places.

It's on a Cumbria based site but you might find it interesting.

Photographs of Otters

[zan]

Cool, thanks for that link

I'm dead excited about it actually, should be really good! It's only for 4 days, but I think I'm going to go back next weekend on my own if the weather looks ok and try and photograph them and the eagles. I'll have my camera for this course, which will be good on the whale-watching boats, but I doubt I'll get anywhere near otters with a group of students!

[rlchew]

Hi Zan

I am not sure about signs/markings .... on all my visits to Mull, it has been very easy to actually see the real thing .

On my last visit in January of this year, I saw a family of 3 Otters on every day plus other individuals.

Mull is just brilliant for Otters and a whole lot more.

Have a great trip!

Richard