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The Daily Bucket - young otters on their own [1]
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Date: 2023-07-06
June 2023
Salish Sea, Pacific Northwest
Young River otters spend their first year living with mom, learning the neighborhood and how to be ottery. When mom is ready to den with her new brood the following spring, she kicks out last year’s youngsters….they are on their own. Most often around here adult otters are solitary (not counting moms with babies) but often several otters form a tight group, and that includes the youngsters.
River otters aren’t full size until they become adults at age two or three years. That’s how I could tell the group of three otters I saw on and from the dock a recently were young — they were small. Probably yearlings, maybe siblings.
Chillin’ on the dock
We were heading down to our boat, and the otters were lounging on the floating portion of the dock between us and the boat. Grooming. We kind of felt bad we had to disturb them but there wasn’t any other way to get to the boat. They heard and saw us coming of course.
The one in back was less comfortable with our presence
It was so interesting to see the difference in their individual reactions. One was very skittish, and snorted at us. It kept moving its head around to get a good look — otters are pretty nearsighted since their eyes are better adapted for seeing underwater. The other two watched but continued rolling around on the dock grating. Then the cautious one jumped in. We gradually moved forward a few more paces to give them the time to decamp. At about 20 feet, a second otter jumped in.
Otter #2. All these pics are zoomed way in.
The third was too busy to slip into the water just yet. I slowly approached to within 10 feet before it finally decided to join its buddies in the water. The impression I got was that these individuals were not feeling stressed. They know how quickly they can jump into the safety of the water, where humans can’t follow. And frankly, they feel like the dock is their domain, with occasional annoying human interruptions.
Here’s a 1½ minute video of clips showing their behavior:
⚓️
Two hours later we returned to the dock after our boat ride. The dock was empty but the three little otters were busy fishing together in the shallow water nearby. There’s a high density of gunnels and sculpins in this bay and the otters were catching one after the next. As much food as they want, if they can catch the slippery little bottomfish and maneuver them down they hatch with no hands. More about River otters: Washington Department Fish and Wildlife
Small fish get brought to the surface, then chewed and swallowed there
Short video of fishing youngsters:
Gunnel tail hanging out of otter’s jaws. Another otter heads down for the next bite.
Clearly these three youngsters have mastered the important skills of being an otter. Fishing, grooming, pooping on the dock, stink-eye encountering humans, all that. Mom trained them well.
🦠
Clouding up but continuing unusually dry the Pacific Northwest islands. Temp in 60s, maybe 70s later. Hazy, smoke aloft. Calm wind.
What’s up in nature in your neighborhood?
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