Now 15 otter cubs being cared for by SSPCA after the recent heavy rains.

[Toddy]

The Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals is now caring for 15 otter cubs found seperated from their mothers after the recent heavy rains.
Apparantly they'll need cared for until about a year old when they're able to fend for themselves.

The Charity has asked that people out and about keep an eye open for youngsters on their own, with no adult nearby, and if found to contact them for advice.

The latest cub was found crying on a back door step in Kirkcudbright, is now called Buddy, and is reckoned to be about ten weeks old.

https://www.scottishspca.org/newsroom/latest-news/otter-cub-found-crying-on-doorstep/

https://www.scottishspca.org/newsroom/latest-news/orphaned-otter-cubs-rescued-by-scottish-spca/

 

[baggins]

AWWWWW! i shall hug him and squeeze him and i shall call him George!

 

[Toddy]

You wish
It's a cute wee ball of furry mischief just now, but it's growing up to be a beautiful predator of all things fishy….and those are just it's baby teeth.

M

 

[Macaroon]

Yes indeedy, you certainly wouldn't want to be hugging an Otter when mature, they're capable of doing you a lot of damage and I seem to remember they're almost impossible to tame, certainly not to pet level......

Without a doubt a captivating animal though, both in looks and personality; absolutely fearless, like all the Mustilidae (sp)

 

[Arya]

There is nothing cuter than Otters! Adorable little killing machines

 

[dwardo]

Yeah i think aww cute, until I remember Terry Nutkins!

Lovely animals.

 

[baggins]

Heehee, don't worry, as cute as they are, i remember picking up a dead male from the road years ago. i was amazed how large it was, as for its claws and teeth...great for fishing, but not for cute cuddles.

 

[Quixoticgeek]

They really are Otterly Adorable. Even if they are cute furry balls of sharp and death.

J

 

[Toddy]

D'you know that's the best description I've yet heard of them ?

M

 

[Toddy]

One of the Rangers told me that where otters took up residence then mink quickly became land based and were then more vulnerable and their numbers dropped significantly.
They also do a cracking job of reducing the numbers of the American signal crayfish.

The same Ranger told me that they had a complaint by a householder because an otter was visiting their garden and they wanted it stopped.

I'd love to have an otter visit my garden

M

 

[Goatboy]

A friend of mine used to get so jealous that though she used to go to places where otter spotting was touted with a huge lens on her camera that she'd come back with some vague distant blob caught on film whereas I'd often have otters literally swimming between my legs playing while I was fishing on the estate where I worked. Didn't bother fishing when they appeared but it was great fun having them play so close that they'd bump against my legs.
My mate and I had fun watching an otter swim and fish within about fifteen feet of us in one of Glasgow parks on Boxing day last.year. Very cool animals. But as mentioned above Terry Napkins could no longer count to ten on his fingers due to otters biting them off.

Sent via smoke-signal from a woodland in Scotland.

 

[Uilleachan]

It happens during bad weather.

10 years or so ago a pal of mine was woken in the night by some high pitched squeaking. He rolled over and went back to sleep. In the morning he found a half grown otter kit on his door step.

It was frozen hard outside so he placed a saucer of milk in the porch left the door opened a bit and retreated. The kit stayed with him for a week, until it was obvious that mummy wasn't coming home (and he was almost out of fish from his freezer), he then contacted Otter-Woman on skye who took it in. The otter was rereleased into the wild 6 months or so later.

My pal and the kit became good friends during the kits stay, to handle the kit my pal had to wear his thick leather welders gauntlets but even so, had to be careful as the kit could and did bite right through the fingers

Earlier this year it was the deer that were getting hammered (no bad thing really). The stormy wet weather was forcing them to move off the ground beneath the snow-line but found themselves trapped by deer fencing. The net result was hundreds of dead deer littering the fence lines in the spring.

 

[GGTBod]

I don't care how tough you are that is one seriously cute critter

 

[ged]

... Ranger told me that they had a complaint by a householder because an otter was visiting their garden and they wanted it stopped. ...

Our education system has got a lot to answer for.

 

[Wayland]

I still remember my first bushcraft meet at Loch Achray, Lying in my hammock waiting for everyone else to arrive, watching a mum and two cubs swimming around oblivious to my presence no more than 20' from my bivi.

I also remember wishing that I hadn't left my camera in my bag 5' from my hammock.

Magical moment though.

 

[jimbo75]

Funny when you see their skulls in museums or such. You wouldn't associate such predatory features with something so fluffy.

Sent from my GT-I9195 using Tapatalk

 

[Tengu]

I too have had otters real close, -I cannot believe that the books describe them as shy.