Otters, Anywhere else?

[Kristian]

Just as I went to bad last night, there was an almighty noise outside and I thought the cat from nextdoor had fallen in the cut between the boat the towpath, so leaping

out of bed I opened the side hatch and pointed my torch outside and to my suprise there was an otter on the grass eating a fish, I feel very lucky to have seen this and was wondering if anyone else has seen otters anywhere else on the canal system? Kristian.

[LEO]

Just as I went to bad last night, there was an almighty noise outside and I thought the cat from nextdoor had fallen in the cut between the boat the towpath, so leaping

out of bed I opened the side hatch and pointed my torch outside and to my suprise there was an otter on the grass eating a fish, I feel very lucky to have seen this and was wondering if anyone else has seen otters anywhere else on the canal system? Kristian.

 

Hi,

 

I would suspect this was a Mink. There have been virtually no ducks at Cowroast this year and wild rabbits have disappeared except for a few remains.

 

A mink was recently 'dispatched' on the moorings and I was aurprised at how large it was and it's similarity with an otter, except in this instance the fur was black.

 

 

Leo.

[Donald Gilchrist]

Heard of Otter seen on the Staffs & Worcs this year,just north of the M54 bridge.

[cotswoldsman]

I was told there were some Otters on The Sharpness and Gloucester though I never saw any but did see quite a lot of Minks and just assumed that they had been mistaken for Otters

[Liam]

I was sat on the back of the boat fishing in the middle flash near Middlewich when one jumped up in the water and dissapeared again about 15 foot in front of me. Put the wind up me a little bit

[casper ghost]

We get mink playing on our boat over night, they can be very brave, walking across the towpath right in front of you, but people have said they've seen otters near me too and they are convinced they were'nt mink.

Casp'

[Tim Doran]

I work next to the Avon in Bath, just above a weir. I have seen an otter 5 or six times in 5 years. I have also seen mink on the K&A and can vouch that they are much smaller. Mink are the size of large rats, otters the size of large cats.

 

Otters are amazing creatures and any hint of one stops work for half an hour.

 

Tim

[Lewis 53]

We sighted an Otter whilst cruising about 1 mile south of Norbury in early July. It was definitely an Otter. Where I live Otter's are quite common. We had a "tame" one in the bay that used to come and beg fish and chips from the tourists. Unfortuanately "Elvis" died of old age recently and the town are thinking of errecting a memorial to him as he was such a character.

[Naughty Cal]

There are otters on the Fossdyke and Witham. We have never caught sight of them though. We have seen the mink many times in the marina.

 

We saw plenty of evidence of otters at the Boston BW moorings this summer with plenty of fish scattered around with just their heads eaten

[real_vibes]

I've been told there are many otters on our stretch of the Avon, also that mink used to be prevelent but are a pain.

[WotEver]

A couple of years ago I saw what I thought was an otter but now believe was probably a mink on the Coventry, jumping over the Alder roots alongside the canal with a huge carp in its mouth. I never have my camera ready when I need it.

 

Tony

 

Mink are the size of large rats, otters the size of large cats.

What I saw was about the size of a small cat but because it was in the shadows I'm unsure if its fur was brown or black.

[LEO]

What I saw was about the size of a small cat but because it was in the shadows I'm unsure if its fur was brown or black.

 

Interesting - the mink I saw at very close quarters was the size of a small cat (I always thought them to be smaller), it lacked the muscular tail of the otter and looked in exellent condition (and so it should from the number of ducks and rabbits it had taken).

 

Leo.

[WotEver]

... it lacked the muscular tail of the otter and looked in exellent condition (and so it should from the number of ducks and rabbits it had taken).

 

Leo.

I find that interesting, too, because we have a lot of ducks and ducklings (and rabbits) around exactly the spot where I saw the otter/mink. So maybe it WAS a mink

 

Tony

[Catrin]

There are notices beside the Lee about otters locally, but we didn't see any. A pity.

Cath

[tillergirl]

Seen on the Cheserfield Canal this summer

[Graham Bowers]

Last year central TV showed otters in the Birmingham area, on still water as I remember.

I have only seen them in the sea in the Southern Hebrides, have had about 10 ottery encounters. Saw mink on the Ashby last year but sadly no longer have a shotgun.

Graham

[Kristian]

Hi,

 

I would suspect this was a Mink. There have been virtually no ducks at Cowroast this year and wild rabbits have disappeared except for a few remains.

 

A mink was recently 'dispatched' on the moorings and I was aurprised at how large it was and it's similarity with an otter, except in this instance the fur was black.

 

 

Leo

100% otter I saw, fur was brown about 3-4 feet long with a "bull nose" not a pointed snout! Otter all the way!

[Mick_B]

100% otter I saw, fur was brown about 3-4 feet long with a "bull nose" not a pointed snout! Otter all the way!

This sounds about right for what surfaced and swam passed my window on the Grand canal during the week. Wasn't sure if it was a mink or otter. I've heard of mink in the area and everyone who gets close enough say they are very aggressive.

[the grinch]

we have both Mink and otter in the Wey and Arun canal thankfully dereliction keeps them apart then there are the Badgers (a bigger pest than either mink or otters!)

[TheWilk]

Not long after I arrived in Lancaster I saw two otters swimming in the canal right in the city centre, but that wasn't to last and for the rest of the time I was there, there was only one lone otter. A lot of people thought they were mink and I think someone shot it.

 

I had many close encounters with it, when the canal was frozen over I heard a splash in the small section of water between my boat and the towpath and went outside to find it taking a lot of deep breaths. It managed to swim about 20 metres under the ice then surface in the tiny unfrozen sections.

 

This is the best photo I got of it, straight after the flash went off it dived down back under then resurfaced with a fish in its mouth.

 

[canaldrifter]

I'm sharing a floating pontoon here at Barmby on the Yorks Derwent, with an otter. She lives under the decking on top of one of the flotation chambers. The EA lads tell me that she has twice raised young here. They often see her running about on the CCTV.

 

The dog is aware of her, but they keep a respectable distance from each other.

 

A floating pontoon broke away from Sutton during the winter. When they rescued it they found a dead otter inside one of the plastic floats which were made from old liquid containers. It had squeezed in through a filler hole and obviously couldn't get back out.

 

There are otters on the lock island at Sutton. Often the remains of eaten fish can been seen on the side of the fish ladder there.

 

The guy who owns the lock house says that there used to be mink on the island until recently, but they seem to have gone. There are no rats on the island! I'm not sure how otters fare against mink, but certainly rats don't stand a chance.

 

Tone

[owenk]

I saw what I concluded was a dead otter in the overflow off the canal by the water treatment works near Tescos in Banbury about 8 or 10 years back when I was walking the dog.

 

It was definately not a mink I know what they look like and have seen many off them in and around Spiceball Park over the years.

 

I kept meaning to do some research to try and confirm if this was indeed an otter but the memory is very distint and it looked very very like an otter.

[madcat]

I thought that otters tended to see the mink off but dont know for certain.

[Dr Bradley]

It was long thought that mink deprived otters of their niche, driving hem away, but in recent years otters have had a resurgance, partly natural due to improved water quality and partly by reintroductions. It now appears when otters return to an area, they overcome the mink and eventually drive them out.

 

We have two reintroduction sites on the Calder, but I've yet to see a reduction in mink - perhaps it takes some time.

[madcat]

wecan but live in hope,mink are nasty