Otter Tracking

[JonathanD]

Thought it would be a good day to go down to that now infamous area and do some otter tracking, and to find out the routes and paths these animals take on their nightly bimbles.

I've never seen any sign of them on my side of the brook, but with the immense amount of vegetation that is usually there in the Summer, now gone. Plus the steep banks that prevent them from climbing out this side. I was suprised to see the extent of their meanderings.

First thing I spotted was a footprint..

This led to a path to the side of the brook and a fallen tree. It's pretty obvious now, that this is how they access this side of the bank...

Once I found this, I found quite a few established trails and another fallen tree that they use. I also found evidence of feeding, but my camera gave out. The good news is, the tracks are very fresh; last nights. Hopefully with some decent weather, I can get back later this week in the evening/night and watch them fannying about. I hope the resident nutter isn't about this time of year.

 

[Barn Owl]

I love watching them up here.

It's a case of luck most of the time but I'm sure there must be Otter near most folks these days.

Mind you i've got rivers, lochs and the coast nearby.

 

[JonathanD]

I love watching them up here.

It's a case of luck most of the time but I'm sure there must be Otter near most folks these days.

Mind you i've got rivers, lochs and the coast nearby.

Honestly, you wouldn't expect to find otters anywhere near here. The first time I saw them I was dumbfounded. You can't have otters in Stourbridge for Godsake, but there they were. Must have quite a healthy population around here too, as I found a print about half a mile away on the canal towpath.

 

[Barn Owl]

Getting some roadkill hereabouts too,which I suppose (?) lends me to think they're thriving.
That may be poor reckoning buti'm sure you can follow that reasoning.

Certainly roadkill isn't affecting the Badger population.

 

[PaulSanderson]

great pics! thanks for sharing.

Im convinced we have some by my house on the River Bure in Norfolk as I keep on coming across oily fishy poop. Despite seeing their remnants I have not seen a single footprint, or evidence of a run to the waters edge. That being said, its reed to the bank anyway.

Are there any other riverside mammals that would leave behind such poop? or am i completely off the mark?

Cheers

 

[JonathanD]

Mink will leave poop like that. Best thing to do when the weather gets nicer, is find a nice spot one evening and just sit and wait. I found my lot when I was sitting on the bank and enjoying a bottle of red wine. It was one of those epic wildlife encounters you dream of. The brook is shallow and clear and the otter just swam past me slowly, occasionaly surfacing and paddling about. I'd spent almost ten years down south trying to see an otter, and then one just swims passed me on my own doorstep.

 

[Barn Owl]

Give the spraint a sniff Paul.

Otter poop doesn't smell too bad,i'm being serious.

 

[PaulSanderson]

luckily the river runs right past my house so I could do just that, of course the bottle of wine would be purely medicinal. As for sniffing the spraint, im not going to get a nasty surprise am i? I dont want to be branded as the village poop sniffer! mud sticks you know haha

 

[Barn Owl]

http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=61378&highlight=otter+spraint

Have a look.

 

[PaulSanderson]

OH yeah....i believed you really. thanks for the heads up...i'll be otter poop spotting this weekend then for sure!! cheers.

 

[redneck]

Otters are great fun, I tracked some in the recent snow.

 

[JonathanD]

Some more pics of tracks found around the area of the small brook. This time there was goose, deer (possibly muntjac), badger, otter and fox. The otter sign was prevalent around this new area with a few slides and loads of well worn paths. Pretty sure we heard a juvenile calling too, so the holt may be in this area.

Velociraptor

Otter

Muntjac?

 

[Barn Owl]

Moorhen raptor?

 

[JonathanD]

Moorhen raptor?

Big, it was about 6 inches long. Must be goose, but the only bird track I could find in my Birds Tracks and Signs book that was similar in size and shape was a Common Crane. It was one big bird and hasn't got the webs that show on swan tracks. I should have put my ruler by it, but I was sinking fast.

 

[Barn Owl]

Big, it was about 6 inches long. Must be goose, but the only bird track I could find in my Birds Tracks and Signs book that was similar in size and shape was a Common Crane. It was one big bird and hasn't got the webs that show on swan tracks. I should have put my ruler by it, but I was sinking fast.

Heron?


Brings to mind an episode when a youngster.
A friend was sinkingin theriver bank mud and all i could do was laugh...guess you had to have been there..

 

[JonathanD]

Heron, of course!!! My head is so stupid sometimes.

 

[JonathanD]

Big beastie tracks they are....

 

[Barn Owl]

I love just how much some bird spp still resemble their Dinosaur ancestors.

 

[WeThePeoplexfbm]

what were you tracking ?

 

[JonathanD]

Otters, badgers, foxes and heron.