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Brazen Otter

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Nick Hay

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https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10201492208937831

Just been posted on the old Cemex site, this one is obviuosly starving to have entered the domain of the human.
Blame the otter, not me, I am no advocate of them, but they are''wild''animals,have to eat, put the blame on anyone ? Blame the idiots that re introduce them.:mad:
 
Now if only the camera man had tried to get the fish back.

Film title " When otters attack"

followed by A&E " Worse than a dog bite"

Where is the film of the kid that comes to feed that fish every weekend and is now so upset he needs therapy.
 
This place is located on the banks of the Teviot, so only to be expected really.I was there 5/6 years ago with the family.We had a walk down the river around noon and watched one of our furry friends for around 20 minutes,didn't seem bothered by our presence in the least.:rolleyes:
 
The bit that amuses me is that there have been endless cases like this reported recently, instances of unnatural otter behaviour. Obviously I don't mean that otters killing fish is not natural...but doing so in broad daylight, in a place that would reek of human presence....most definitely is! It is not even bothered that much by the human approaching it...seeming far more worried about possibly losing it's meal, than any thoughts of escaping.

The reason it amuses me is that I am told that I am worrying needlessly, that the original 'hand reared' otters, those released on our waters years ago, are now dead. Apparently, any tendencies to be unafraid of humans, or have any other worrying traits...would have died along with them. The present crop, it seems, would have reverted back to their wild, natural behaviour.

I think not.

Cheers, Dave.
 
[Obviously I don't mean that otters killing fish is not natural...but doing so in broad daylight, in a place that would reek of human presence....most definitely is!

Exactly Dave, that is why I posted it up, just shows the lengths that hunger will push these animals to, if they deplete the natural waterways of enough food to eat then this is exactly what they will do, I suppose as time goes on they may die out through hunger, but that means they will have eaten all the fish !!
The thing that surprised me was that when the cameraman came into the otters view it just turned with the fish moved a bit and carried on eating, no way was it going to run off and leave its catch, proof to me that it was indeed starving and the instinct to eat was far greater than the instinct to leg it.
I understand the anger and frustration of some and need to express the ''kill'' them attitude, but if anything needs to be killed it is the continual re introduction of these animals, what we as anglers do about it I really do not know. We seem to be the least influential in any say in this matter.
 
I am no Biologist but I would think that the Otter's DNA has changed somewhat since it was a natural addition to our countryside, and not a re-introduced species that has lost the knowledge to cope with 'farming' of it's own larder.

Hence we are seeing the Otter running amok like kid's in a sweet shop, and wiping out it's own habitat, hardly surprising to those who might understand a bit about animal behaviour, but as I said I am no Biologist.
 
Why would they fear humans if they've nothing to fear, wild or these supposed hand reared, it's been illegal to harm otters for years? Nobody's suggesting the urban fox's are all hand reared released fox's, and they no longer fear humans. It's not as if it was letting the guy stroke it! And if they had just turned up for work in the morning like it was suggested, the otter would have caught that fish when the place was empty and had been since the evening before. Really don't see any point in this.

We had two guest speakers at our club meet the other week, from the AT and EA, both parties stressing the point that nothing is ever going to get done about otters. Both for fear of the massive damage this would do to the face of angling and also, that through tackling the other problems, cormorants, pollution, habitat improvement etc, otters and fish and fishermen can co-exist, like they have done for centuries. Essentially things should balance out.
And before anyone predictably states this as their reason for not joining the AT, it's worth stating that they didn't get a general licence for cormorants, in large part, for their inability to compete with groups such as the RSPB and their million strong membership, which dwarfs the pathetic twenty odd thousand AT members.
The EA guy made a point that the vast majority of letters and emails he got from anglers was 'shoot this, stock that', pretty much affirming the quick fix attitude most have on these matters.

Join the Angling Trust and things may well start to improve. Strength in numbers and all that.
 
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Rhys Perry said:
Why would they fear humans if they've nothing to fear, wild or these supposed hand reared, it's been illegal to harm otters for years? Nobody's suggesting the urban fox's are all hand reared released fox's, and they no longer fear humans. It's not as if it was letting the guy stroke it! And if they had just turned up for work in the morning like it was suggested, the otter would have caught that fish when the place was empty and had been since the evening before. Really don't see any point in this.

We had two guest speakers at our club meet the other week, from the AT and EA, both parties stressing the point that nothing is ever going to get done about otters. Both for fear of the massive damage this would do to the face of angling and also, that through tackling the other problems, cormorants, pollution, habitat improvement etc, otters and fish and fishermen can co-exist, like they have done for centuries. Essentially things should balance out.
And before anyone predictably states this as their reason for not joining the AT, it's worth stating that they didn't get a general licence for cormorants, in large part, for their inability to compete with groups such as the RSPB and their million strong membership, which dwarfs the pathetic twenty odd thousand AT members.
The EA guy made a point that the vast majority of letters and emails he got from anglers was 'shoot this, stock that', pretty much affirming the quick fix attitude most have on these matters.

Join the Angling Trust and things may well start to improve. Strength in numbers and all that.
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I am already a member of the AT Rhys, but thanks for the invitation anyway.

As for your comparison between the urban fox situation and otters...that doesn't really stand up to scrutiny, does it? The clue is in the word 'Urban'. Foxes are now in a situation where their population levels have outgrown the usable space and natural food available, due in no small measure to modern farming methods. It can't be anything to do with the ban on the traditional fox hunting method, because apparently that was terrible inefficient, with the shooting and trapping that goes on now far better :rolleyes: Whatever, the only option for a young dog fox seeking a territory now is frequently to utilise urban areas, with the masses of food available there (disgustingly, just laying around on our streets much of the time nowadays) The fox became urbanised due to necessity, not choice.

The otter on the other hand has supposedly :)rolleyes:) still not reached natural population levels, far less become overcrowded. In which case, there is NO pressure on otters for territory...so there is NO need to change it's natural, incredibly shy, human fearing, nocturnal hunting ways. Unless of course there are other factors which caused that change? Surely not :)

Cheers, Dave.
 
Thanks for proving my point that wild animals can lose their fear of humans!

Anyway, this anti/pro merry-go-round arguing is pointless, nothing will be done about otters, you can post pointless videos of them eating fish (shock horror), and moan on forums all you like, it won't change that fact. We can however make rivers home to otters and fish if we've got enough clout, and I've yet to hear of any other realistic solutions.
 
you say nothing will be done about the otter rhys , i agree and im sure most are aware of that

you say join the AT and make a difference , it is already too late for some rivers :(

we fight a losing battle

the EA continually top up rivers with fish from the like of calverton , why ?

with all the issues our rivers are up against , the LAST thing they needed was the otter being introduced just to be used as a marker for how clean the water is

its too late now though , the genie is out
 
Rhys Perry said:
Thanks for proving my point that wild animals can lose their fear of humans!

Anyway, this anti/pro merry-go-round arguing is pointless, nothing will be done about otters, you can post pointless videos of them eating fish (shock horror), and moan on forums all you like, it won't change that fact. We can however make rivers home to otters and fish if we've got enough clout, and I've yet to hear of any other realistic solutions.
Click to expand...

I quite agree with you Rhys, it is too late....the chance of otter numbers being controlled now (as they ALWAYS were in the past) are fairly remote. This nanny state, with all it's farcical political correctness and seemingly endless streams of insane regulations will see to that. Which of course means that otter numbers will increase to utterly unnatural levels. This idea that they will reach a point where nature takes over, that their numbers are self regulating, may eventually come true....but not before they have caused wrongs that we will not be able to put right.

Whatever happens, the ONE truth that is inescapable in all of this smoke and mirrors stuff is that the vast majority of our rivers are not healthy enough to sustain a head of fish capable of feeding the number of otters that the do gooders would like to see. THAT is the problem. To have a healthy population of otters, you need a health population of fish. It really is that simple. Sadly, we don't have the fish part of that equation, and are unlikely to have for the foreseeable future. It's not rocket science...a stringently protected, molly coddled and uncontrolled otters population + an already declining fish population means that things can only go one way. Man's meddling will once again bring about a situation of massive imbalance.

WAY before any natural, self regulating control of otters could occur, they will have reached the stage where hunger forces them into killing and eating anything that is small enough for them to manage. No doubt the distance they are forced to forage in will spread ever further from our waterways....and they won't worry overly much whether their prey is covered in scales, fur or feather (that process seems to have already started). During that period, we will most certainly lose the already endangered species such as water voles, bittern and so on, and probably a swath of other species that are not yet on that list. The government will act of course....once it's too late to do anything effective to save those critters. They will then be forced to take draconian measures to 'put right' that which actually can no longer BE put right. :rolleyes: and so the cycle of mans meddling and destructive nature will roll ever onwards.

You are right though Rhys, no amount of moaning on forums will change things. In fact, as things stand, there is nothing we can do in ANY way that will change things. The bizarre regulations that the clinically insane burgermeisters in Brussels invent to feed their ego and power trips will continue to rain down on us, and we will continue to follow them like sheep. Of course the rest of Europe will carry on doing as they see fit, and sniggering at the weird, pitiful Brits for their gullible nature. So no Rhys, nothing will change. Except our fishing...and the list of species that just got reaquainted with the Do Do.

Never mind.

Cheers, Dave.
 
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