Otters and Ponds

stavebuyer · February 09, 2023, 04:17:10 AM

I guess this Blue Heron will clean up what the otter missed :D

Texas Ranger · February 09, 2023, 09:17:43 AM

One of the rewards of being a forester, public or private, is being able to walk other folk's land. Years ago I saw a pair of river otters playing in a creek on private land, only ones I saw in some 55 years working the woods.

SwampDonkey · February 10, 2023, 03:54:54 AM

I see otters often in the creeks around here looking for brook trout and crayfish. I'm sure coons get a few crayfish to. But otter also kill beavers. Seen them in beaver ponds many times. Beavers are thickly populated in this area, all that popple growth from clear cuts, to eat. The otters can have all them they can eat. :D

thecfarm · February 10, 2023, 05:56:32 AM

I have never seen an otter.

KEC · February 10, 2023, 03:40:20 PM

Otters are a low density species; even where they are relatively common there aren't all that many in a given area. They also have large home ranges. Trappers find that you can make perfectly good sets in a given location but the local otters may only come through that location once every several days. I have seen 3 or 4 and it's hard to predict a sighting.

Mooseherder · February 10, 2023, 03:51:27 PM

A few months ago they were here and returned daily for about 2 weeks. That was the first time they stayed that long. Usually a day or two then gone. Or they come more often and we don't even hear that they're there. I know they are around when you smell dead fish. Brings in the birds also.

SwampDonkey · February 10, 2023, 03:59:41 PM

They are quite common here on a couple local brooks. Will see more tracks than otter most times. They do move around a lot from beaver pond to beaver pond. I followed tracks of one for over a mile, it came from the direction of one pond and headed to another on the back of the woodlot.

Mooseherder · February 10, 2023, 04:15:29 PM

You have more Fisher Cat sightings up there also. I've seen one on an atv trail chasing a bunny rabbit and caught one several times on a game camera. They move and look a lot like river otters.

SwampDonkey · February 10, 2023, 04:45:42 PM

I've seen one Fisher in the last 10 years or so, 50 miles from settlement on Sisson Brook. Mom's uncle trapped one once in awhile with bate years ago.

New report this week on Lynx in NB has delisted it from 'endangered' to 'species of concern'. I've not seen one in awhile, but I did see a bobcat along the highway this fall. I've not been shoeing much this winter, been cleaning off snow about every day this winter for exercise. :D

KEC · February 10, 2023, 07:21:27 PM

Mooseherder, Your story reminded me of a time that someone asked me to check out a foul odor under a camp at a lake near here. Turned out, a mink was bringing fish and crawfish through a hole in the old fieldstone foundation into the cellar. Decaying, half eaten fish and crawfish and mink scat in a wet cellar created a very special kind of odor.

trapper · February 10, 2023, 07:55:31 PM

The last fisher I caught is now my wife's fur hat.

Mooseherder · February 15, 2023, 11:06:17 AM

A neighborhood kid asked to fish the pond a couple days ago. I mentioned that River Otters probably ate them but was curious if there would be more. He caught 3 Bass in 15 minutes.

Yesterday's visitor.
gator sunning by the pond - YouTube

Mooseherder · February 15, 2023, 01:15:12 PM

Turf war a month ago.
turf wars. a gator, two turtles and 4 muscovy ducks. - YouTube

Mooseherder · February 27, 2023, 08:33:30 AM

The River Otters are back this morning.
River Otters are back. - YouTube

Walnut Beast · February 27, 2023, 11:23:14 AM

Nice video! That was pretty cool 👍

SwampDonkey · February 27, 2023, 02:59:22 PM

Haven't seen an otter or track for a few weeks now. Have not been on the shoes much, will probably go out the end of the week after the new snow. Will have to shoe to the back of the lot where the ponds are. Beaver activity quieted down this month, they were out most of January.

Mooseherder · March 11, 2023, 02:11:37 PM

A couple of gators have been hanging around lately. One is about 6 foot long while another is smaller.
alligator by the woodpile - YouTube

Mooseherder · April 20, 2023, 04:12:36 PM

An Iguana showed up.
Iguana in the yard. - YouTube

RPF2509 · April 21, 2023, 07:02:01 PM

Otters are cute but they will clean out a pond. When my son was about 4 I took him to the local farm pond and he had a ball casting for frogs with a rubber worm. Caught a frog every cast and every lily pad had a frog on it. He wanted to go next spring, so we did and there was not a frog to be seen. We were walking around the bank looking for a spot on the far side that might have a frog when I saw a line of bubbles coming towards us. As the bubbles got close I could see it was an otter. He did a quick u-turn when he got close enough to see us. Later that week I heard shots from my neighbor's pond and later asked him what was up. He said an otter got into his pond and killed his prized koi - it was at least 20 years old and way bigger than the otter. The otter made a clean getaway. Once saw a pair of otters up on a ridge in a spring complex about a mile from the creek with no above ground connection to it. They know how to find water with food.