Otter sprainting - unusual pattern

[The Woodman]

Yesterday I came across some unusual Otter sprainting.

The animals leave the river where a low checkweir joins the bank and climb up the slope, under the fence and out into the field.

There is clearly defined track up the bank and under the fence which is not so clear in the photo. A nice scratched up grass pile can be seen on the river side of the fence.



What I've never seen before is the pattern of spraint heaps in the field. There are five, at right angles to the fence/river and equally spaced about a metre between them. The heaps nearest the fence have been used the most and the furthest, the least. The track ends at the furthest, no other signs or tracks elsewhere in the field.



This image shows three of the five heaps, one of which has an old fox scat near it.



The yellowing of the grass is caused by urine. To spraint in the open featureless field like this is not common as other sprainting sites are close by on the bank on suitable features including rocks, the scratched grass heaps, etc.

There could of course been tussocks in the field that have been grazed flat and the animals continue to be attracted to the heaps, but so many?, the situation? It's left me scratching my head a little.

Any thoughts on the interpretation of this?

[Dogghound]

Perhaps flooding regularly occurs in the field and scatting occurs at the waters edge, as the water declines the scatting follows.

[The Woodman]

Thought you would come up with some outside the lines !!

As you can see there's flood debris on the fence wire above field height but this remains from the unpresedented Nov 2009 flood as does the sand that can seen in the sward.

The stimulus to spraint comes from the scent of a previously laid spraint mainly and the necessity to mark one's presence. But there is a time when no previous spraint is available for a stimulus for whatever reason. In that case the first spraint will be laid in a prominent position where other animals will stand a good chance of finding it.

Regular "normal" flood heights will drown regular spraint heaps on the bank as in many places, you might have a point there, thanks.



If it wasn't a 140 mile round trip, I would put a camera trap there.

[Fauna]

Hi Woodman...

Could it possible the sprainting originally started on mole hills which have now disappered?

Regards Chris...

[The Woodman]

Brilliant....I'm too constrained by the lines!

That would fit the bill perfectly and although there weren't any molehills in the immediate vicinity yesterday there is much activity in the area.

Thank you for that suggestion Chris and Dogghound for yours. The big flood would probably have flattened the hills and filled all the old mole runs in the field and perhaps made it unfavourable due to the high sand content. From what I can see, there was a fair layer of sand dumped in the field by flood.

The spacing would fit too.