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Went for a spot of otter spotting today. Anyone here ever try this?
Otters are very elusive animals so it's hard to actually get to see one in the wild. To find out whether otters exist in an area you have to rely on finding spraint, tracks or setting up camera traps.
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Here's your average Eurasian otter track, they're around 5 cm long.
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Sometimes otters leave tracks that can't be unambiguously attributed to them, such as food leftovers. Generally, only camera traps, spraint or tracks are reliably ways to find whether otters live in a place. Finding live or deceased specimen is also a clear sign, obviously.
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I know I probably won't, but I really hope I'm gonna get to see one in the wild one day.
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Otters often have specific spots where they like to climb in and out of the water. In tall grass these paths are easy to spot. Look for tracks around these areas!
Never give up.
It's rare to actually come across otters or their tracks in the wild, so the experience of discovering them is especially rewarding.
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Went out again last week. This little bird flew above me and kept singing.
He was trying to lead you towards otters
I thought birds were afraid of otters.
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That's true, flying otters are a huge source of fear for birds.
I saw an otter today. I went out to the river near my neighborhood to read and sit by the water, and while I was out there, an otter swam by. I didn't get a particularly good look, as the otter was maybe 50 feet away from me and moving quickly, but I'm 90% sure that it was an otter. Needless to say, my whole day improved from there. I would have gotten pictures, but I usually don't bring my phone with me when I go to read by the river.
That is magnificent. If it was really an otter then you must be the luckiest anon here.
Congrats on the sighting, anon. I think otters reward regular visitors, especially those who know how to sit quietly, so I'm not surprised ottter graced you with his presence. I bet it made your day.
This whole post just warms my heart
I love this place and all of you.
Recently I found what looked like otter tracks in the mud under a bridge, but turns out it was just a dog. Bummer.
I'll still not give up, though.
I spotted two swimming otters in one of the man made rivers (drains) in Lincolnshire, England. It was around 5am in the summer.
I got a video but it came out poorly.
That's amazing! Two otters, must have been a couple. Post the video?
Sure here you go. They pop their snoots out of the water at about 11 seconds in. Man I was lucky, I wasn't even out spotting I was just on a walk.
Very nice, what a blessing to get to see something like that.
Congrats man!
I have a feeling like otters only show up when you're not expecting to see them, if you had gone out intending to find otters you wouldn't have found any.
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Don't say that, I want to take a trip to Scotland to see them sometime
That's just how those cheeky otters are, they can sense when someone's after them. Animals have all kinds of senses that science can't explain, they often seemingly know things they shouldn't.
I still hope you'll get to see them btw
I had a thought. How about we all go to Scotland to watch otters together?
Something like this https://www.otter.org/Public/Events_OtterWatchingDays.aspx seems like a great meetup occasion to me.
That sounds pretty cool
The tick warning has me spooked though. Forgot how tick and midge ridden Scotland is
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