Riverside encounter with an otter and her young

[Judi Lynn]

Newcastle Emlyn, West Wales Even in the fading light I could pick out every detail of them: the small rounded ears, the luxurious whiskers, the broad muzzle and their wonderful strangeness

Jim Perrin
Saturday 5 November 2016 01.30 EDT

The Afon Teifi, one of the most beautiful Welsh rivers, loops round the castle at Emlyn, the bailey of which is sentinelled with field maples. The bank is palisaded with fine alders, hung with purple cones and catkins.

Standing by one of these on an autumn afternoon, I thought about the alder’s remarkable qualities: its capacity to fix nitrogen and fertilise the ground through Frankia bacteria in its root-nodules; its red sap, once used as dye for those referred to in Trioedd Ynys Prydein (a collection of early Welsh verses transcribed in the 13th century but of earlier origin) as “sacred kings and warriors of the alder cult”; its wood, which served a variety of purposes from clog manufacture to the making of whistles.

As I looked up into slender branches of the tree’s crown, a piercing note, more squeak than whistle, came from the bank right by my feet. It was followed by muted huffings and splashings. I looked down, and there, sprawled across roots that stretched into the water, was a bitch otter and this year’s cub, unaware of my presence, no more than three metres away.

Even in the fading light I could pick out every detail of them: the thick, spiked guard-hair of their coats; the small rounded ears; the luxurious vibrissae (whiskers) of the broad muzzle by which they sense prey underwater; the streamlined shape and wide rudders; their wonderful strangeness.

More:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/nov/05/riverside-encounter-otter-young-country-diary

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Wales road sign

[Siwsan]

1. And here's me thinking nothing could make Wales even more wonderful than it is, already!

[Grins]

5. A LONG, LONG, time ago...

Had to be in the mid-1950's. I was watching Disney and the program was a nature program featuring two otters on a journey (Yellowstone NP?). Constant. Fun. Esp. the scenes of the otters on a snow-covered slope, snow-surfing downhill on their bellies and having the time of their lives.

I'm sure I didn't I know a whit about reincarnation back then, but I do remember thinking that if I could be any animal in another life, an otter is what I hoped most to be. I still think that way.

[emmadoggy]

6. Otters have always been one of my favorite animals.

Love them!

[cynzke]

7. Years ago, My family had a wonderful encounter with otters up in Maine.

We rented a cabin on a lake. While there, we took a ride on a rural road along a small, slow moving river. We were delighted to discover an otter family playing on the opposite river bank. The bank was grassy and sloped down slightly. The otters were using the grassy slope as a slide. Sliding into the river, then back to the top of the slope to slide down again. They were having so much fun, they didn't seem to be disturbed by us watching them.