Otter Really having a Ball

[Vanin]

I hung a tennis ball from a small branch over the concrete overflow from our lake to the Beck.
An otter bh has reared two pups this year and two last year. This is what happened when the nearly full grown pups discovered the ball in March and April this year.
Taken with automatic Bushnell trail camera in the early morning


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USjfq5IOLU0

[Vanin]

Amazing how my post has been moderated in this oh so touchy feely PC age.

A male otter is a dog otter(rarely boars) and a female is a bh (rarely sows).
and the offspring are called pups

Whatever next, perhaps they will moderate the words pig and cow because as everyone knows all men are the former apparently according to feminist vaches!

[Vanin]

Pesty said:

Awesome.


Wonder if you set up a hide you could watch live or are they too alert for that.

They are hugely alert and can hear my footsteps from a great distance no matter how quietly I tread

I actually first saw one in the daytime in October 2014 and it came up like a porpoise and disappeared so quickly that I could not believe what I had just seen. Moments later a head appeared at the other end of the lake but I was still not quite sure if it was an otter or a mink.

That evening I went down to the lake with a shooting stick and an analogue infrared video camera and sat quietly behind an alder tree.

It grew darker and a Kingfisher appeared followed by some pipistrelle bats and it was becoming so dark that I decided to pack up and call it a night

Just as I was about to stand up there was a splash from the island in the middle of the lake followed by a splat about twenty yards away. I trained the camera in that direction but some branches from the alder were in the way.

The next thing was a splat right by my left foot! I whirled round with the camera but caught the trunk of the alder which made a slight noise.
I could see nothing as the viewfinder was so bright that it had caused night blindness but I kept the camera rolling.

When I returned to the car and played back the video there was a clear image of the otter bounding away.

I think that since I go to the lake a lot my scent is always around so they would not worry about that.

I have never seen one since apart from on the Bushnell camera

She must have given birth around now, November in both 2014 and 2015 as the pups are quite well developed by March

I gather that they need to give birth early so that they can put enough weight on before the following Winter

I put the tennis ball up as I know they are playful but I had not realised how these would adore it so much

I have now put up a child's slide just in front of the hanging ball so they may just find a new game next year so watch this space!



Another interesting fact is that my old Airedale which died in 2013 aged 15 years was behaving very strangely just before she died
She was walking very slowly and a bit lame on her way to the lake. If a rabbit or a fox appeared her ears would prick up but that was about it, Been there done that and no interest.

However she arrived at the lake and suddenly became very animated, nose to the ground and charging around like a puppy. So much so that I had to catch her and pick her up as I thought she might have a heart attack.

Then I remembered, an Airedale was bred from a cross between an English Terrier and an Otter Hound

[Vanin]

FlyingMeeces said:

:eyeroll: It's automatic, your post has not been moderated, no actual person would think there's a problem with that usage. Programming it to excuse legitimate uses of the relevant words would be a ton of extra work and it doesn't exactly hurt anyone to have it as it is.

Pretty sure the censor still nails Shorpe, too.

Ah yes. (Still makes me snigger, that.)

Bloody love the video, that's excellent.

The computer obviously heard the one about " If Typhoo put the T in Britain, who put the...... in S!

[Vanin]

ali_kat said:

Fabulous film, thank you for sharing

You must thank the otters not me.

In 2015 the mother reared two pups also and I had put the tennis ball in the concrete overflow not dangling from a branch but tied to the base of a small tree. I knew that they were playful and was hoping that they would play with it but not run off with it.
However they were very nervous of the ball, sniffed it leaning back and ran off never to be seen near it again.
So I was extra pleased with the two from this year's litter.

She hopefully has had a successful mating a couple of months ago and let us hope there is some more amusing footage in early 2017.

I was surprised to hear that wild otters only live for a short time 3 to 5 years.

http://www.wildoxfordshire.org.uk/wp-content/uploa...

Lifespan
Most otters live for three to four years in the wild, although they can live longer.
Mortality is high among young animals looking to establish their own territories,
particularly in areas with well established populations. The most common natural
causes of death are likely to be starvation for young otters unable to fend for
themselves or establish a territory. For adult otters, injuries sustained from territorial
fighting are common causes of death. The most frequent reasons for non-natural
mortalities are road kills and drowning in fish and crustacean traps.

[Vanin]

Nightmare said:

fantastic video - watched it several times now Particularly impressive given their doing that in pitch black.....and what did you tie it on with? - i am surprised the string didn't snap once it had been properly caught!

It was tied to a small horizontal branch of a sapling, the branch was about the diameter of my little finger. I used some electric fence nylon/wire threaded right through the ball in the hope that they would not chew through it. The fence wire is quite strong.

I could understand this happening if the pups had been hand reared or had a lot of human contact, but they are so shy that I have never seen them in the day. You would have thought that they would be too busy finding food to keep their high metabolism going rather than wasting a lot of energy playing like this but perhaps this play and dexterity is an important part of their survival skills.

[Vanin]

Nightmare said:

fantastic video - watched it several times now Particularly impressive given their doing that in pitch black.....

Yes, now you mention it I have read that otters have poor eyesight but the video shows it having no problem with a moving tennis ball in the dark.

The other thing is to note the date change at the bottom of the screen. The first part is taken in March this year and the second part in April and there is a definite joy in rediscovering the ball as the otter really chases the ball and eventually captures it and holds it lovingly!

[Vanin]

Japveesix said:

Amazing video. I bought a trail cam about 6 years ago when I was working a lot with my local otter group with the single aim of capturing otter clips to show to all the volunteers who were diligently recording signs etc but had never seen the otters. I failed, mainly due to not having "private" places to put the camera where dog walkers, kids etc wouldn't find it and steal it. I have got nice clips of wild boar etc since though.

Anyway, do you have any objection to me sharing your clip on the Mammal Society facebook page here?:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/MammalSociety/?ref...

They will honestly go nuts for it as it's such a brilliant behaviour insight.

You can certainly use the clip and thank you for having the good manners to ask. I went to see a talk on otters from a teacher called Stewart West who had been recording them on the Louth canal in Lincolnshire and he asked if he could use the clip also. The more the merrier!

I am not on facebook and do not understand it but I was at a Wedding in Louhans near Geneva recently and the bride's brother in law was sitting next to me. He was French and living in Northern France. We were talking about the otters here and he said that he was very interested in them so I showed him this youtube clip and he just said " I have seen this many times before" not knowing then that it was my own film. I said that was extraordinary as at the time it only had about 150 hits and he told me that it was viral on facebook. I have searched via google but never found it so perhaps you could tell me more?

[Vanin]

Nightmare said:

I think nature documentaries are a bit to blame for that - they do love to give the impression that every living thing is on the verge of something awful happening/ one meal away from death. I'm yet to encounter the young of any mammal that doesn't spend a decent amount of time dicking around.....and as you say it's actually practising exactly the same skill that will let it catch fish underwater which can't be easy!

When you see the otter juggling a stone on this video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_RwmtrjeInc

It really makes my otter pups look like amateurs! It does show what amazing balance and coordination they have.

[Vanin]

Found the clip of the fox scared by the otters back in 2015 on a windy night

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2bmxvSJUbYI

First shot is of mother and pups on the overflow. The Bushnell camera is pointing more towards the lake on the right.
She scent marks a tuft of grass at 04.33.
At 04.45 a large dog fox appears and sniffs the tuft of grass. I am thinking that I do not want to see what happens next as I thought he would kill one of the pups but the next clip shows how brave he was.

Here is another clip to confirm from someone else's upload

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOEwhDGKp6s

Edited by Vanin on Friday 16th December 09:13

[Vanin]

These otters had a tough time against three coyotes but even just one otter one his own was strong enough to make a getaway at the same time inflicting a few sharp bites judging by the way they backed off. It does show how strong and agile they are as each coyote looked twice as big.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txM6PgiWNnU

[Vanin]

V8A*ndy said:

I've recently found out I've Otters......

One was having a munch on a Pike it had trailed up onto the grass at the Lake side of the garden...

I was amazed to see this.

I have converted an IR camera into a bird box and now working on a power supply for it.

Hopefully I'll get some footage of these amazing creatures.

Look forward to the video.

I have found my Bushnell to be very reliable and the batteries last for ages at least six months.

It was about £200 and was similar to this one with noglow

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bushnell-Natureview-Glow-...


I did buy a cheaper one at about £65 which looked similar but was absolutely useless so one of the occasions where it is worth paying a little more for the product.

I am very lucky because the concrete overflow where all the action takes place is the closest point from the stream to the lake.

Not only otters but all other creatures need to cross the overflow to walk around the lake so I have had good footage of Roe deer plus fawn, Muntjac, Mink, Polecat, Squirrel, Rabbit, Fox, Badger, Rat, Heron, Buzzard, Crow, Pheasant, Cat and of course the occasional human who should not be there!

So the right camera is as important as the right location.

[Vanin]

Nightmare said:

In the words of South Park - we need a montage!

)

It looks like I will be busy on boxing day! Still it is a good way to avoid socialising with members of the family you do not wish to socialise with!

[Vanin]

Otter back today. Very good to see as there has been nothing on the Bushnell since April.

Hopefully it is the mother again and hopefully she has given birth already and we can look forward to some more clips in the New Year.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFFWs3j9nLU

I cannot see why she could not be successful here for many years as it is quiet, the lake is full of fish and the stream has many potential holts.

[Vanin]

No sign of the female otter since the Christmas visit.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFFWs3j9nLU

On a second look at this video I think that it might have been the dog otter looking for her.
She has not bred this year, could be many reasons, not conceived, not found a mate, moved, died. But I am surprised since the lake is well stocked, quiet and remote,with a chalk stream next door feeding it which has half a mile of Ash tree roots going down to make the perfect holt.



The dog came for a visit on April 24th but I have not seen him since. He marked the spot where she always marked and seemed as if he was looking for her.

https://youtu.be/94SeMND-U1Q

[Vanin]

The two pups from the "Otter really having a Ball " clip I think returned May 18th. I judge it was them by the way one of them nudged the tennis ball.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjh1SZe2vgE&fe...


and the next day there was again I think the dog otter checking things out.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3QUP8HucHQ&fe...


No sign of Mum so anything could have happened to her.

[Vanin]

Try putting these in the youtube search box

18.5.17 otter pups return
19.5.17 dog otter back
otter really having a ball