Otter

A week or so ago a few signs appeared locally that indicated an otter had been visiting.

On the river bank there were a couple of piles of fish scales and on a branch that overhung the river was a pile of spraint.

Otter spraint (poo) contains fish scales, bones and other undigested food. It apparently smells of Jasmin tea but also quite fishy.

As otters are protected as a European protected species (EPS) and are also protected under sections 9 and 11 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, it is an offence to capture, kill, disturb or injure otters (on purpose or by not taking enough care), or to
damage or destroy a breeding or resting place (deliberately or by not taking enough care) I thought the best way to confirm the presence of an otter was to use a trail camera.

Otters can have territories or ranges that can vary between 2km and 20 km depending on the availability of food so it was fingers crossed that the otter was going to appear on camera.

After a couple of tries I was really pleased to find the trail camera caught an otter passing by.

You can find out more about my photography and my local patch in Get Your Boots On

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