It's getting 'otter and 'otter

It's so frustrating when you know that otter are around locally, and yet finding any evidence in the usual places proves 'challenging'!  A few years ago a new fish pass was installed on the river, and as part of these works I was involved in protecting an otter holt in the wider vicinity. Since then, both as part of the legal monitoring works and also because I'm interested, I've been keeping a close eye out for otter spraint and usually find some with no problem.  Typically however, with the girls in tow things are never that simple. However, we did find one small spraint, complete with fish bones, on the edge of this wooden sleeper - what you can't see here is that the fish pass starts directly behind Seahorse on the left and I was holding her rather precariously, with Turtle holding onto my leg whilst I was attempting to get photographic evidence. Fortunately my husband hasn't yet asked me to complete a risk assessment as part of this challenge...

It was getting hotter and hotter by this stage, and any self-respecting animal would have been tucked up in the shade. NOt only that, but I was being reminded with increasing regularity that the girls hadn't had their snack (after only 3 breakfasts' that morning), so any more ideas for mammal searches were put on hold in favour of mini-cheddars and cold juice, picnic-style, before we mooched our way home again. One final highlight, although not part of our challenge, was this beautiful heron that was keeping a careful eye out for the girls...

Otter in general are becoming far more widespread throughout the UK, and are currently doing really well in Oxford. In recent years I've had reports of them being spotted on Salters' Steamers boats by Folly Bridge, being captured on video by Magdelen Bridge by a student wandering past and being seen catching fish in Hinksey Fish pond on a Saturday morning while dog-walkers were watching (and I saw photographic proof of that one too!).  To have one of our largest predators seemingly at home on the busy waterways of a small city really highlights the ability of many species to integrate into our world if only they can be left in peace. Lockdown has given rise to increasing numbers of reports of wildlife being seen in our towns and cities, but how much of this is due to a lack of human activity, and how much due to an increase in how much people are noticing is as yet to be determined. Regardless, get out there and keep your eyes open - you may be amazed at what you can see!

British mammal tally: 9

Learn more about otters here

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