​Otter Encounters

I have always been fascinated by otters.  They are such beautiful, elegant and charismatic animals. 

Over the years I’ve spent many an evening trying to catch a glimpse of one of these amazing creatures in the wild. 
 
As an ecologist I’m used to spending days on end sliding down and crawling up river banks and wading around looking for prints, spraints and otter slides.  Although this is lots of fun, there is nothing better than a real life close encounter with an animal in the wild.

Surveys as a consultant have taken me to several counties in the south of England, many with plenty of evidence of otters, but still none seen. Not entirely unexpected as most surveys focus on field signs and are carried out during the day and otters are nocturnal and elusive animals. 

My love of otters started during my Masters project, which took me to many parts of beautiful Pembrokeshire, studying how they might move across watersheds between different river catchments and what the barriers to their movement might be. ​​
 ​

---

I finally managed to catch my first glimpse of an otter last summer, whilst carrying out a voluntary survey as part of the River Otter Beaver Trial.  No beavers spotted on my patch, but the sight of an otter gliding soundlessly through the water towards me was enough to make me very happy.  Despite having come prepared with my camera, I was so excited I was frozen to the spot and completely forgot that I had my camera at the ready to capture the moment!

For the last three years, since moving to the south-west, I have been undertaking voluntary surveys for the Somerset Otter Group and the Dorset Mammal Group. 
 
For the nights following the most recent Somerset survey, I couldn’t resist trying to capture one of ‘my’ otters on camera and set up a camera trap under a bridge at one of my positive sites.  I was very happy to get some great results, including a lovely clip of an otter passing under the bridge.   This is a regularly used site where I’ve seen positive signs on almost every visit, so there’s hope that a few nights spent hiding out on the riverbank may lead to some more close encounters and maybe even some photos, if I can remember to press the button next time!
 
I'm going to continue to monitor this site along with the others in my regular Somerset and Dorset survey areas, hopefully with better photos to follow!  

Please get in touch if you need any assistance with otter surveys on your projects. 
Call 07977 393016 or email Alison.johnson@newleafecology.com. ​​