Otter?

RPA 6MM BR

Well-Known Member
A friend of mine has been having fish taken from his pond on a regular basis for some time now and they are not small fish! Due to the location being very residential we were sure it was a mink. However he has bought a trailcam and got these images on the first night and surprisingly it seems that its an otter!
 

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They are getting to be a common sight on the River Teign, usually showing up just before dark when i am about to start sea trout fishing.
Cheers
Richard
 
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as already said otters are becoming more common every where when i was keepering we had a small trout lake where every morning i would find a fresh 3-4lb trout pulled up on the bank with the head and tail eaten and the fillets left saw pad marks and saw the/a otter down stream of the lake but never seen it in the lake just found what it left every morning
 
its great to see there numbers are on the up, but they do eat an large amount of fish. they also eat the the non-native crayfish which has gota be a good thing.
great pics by the way,
atb
simon
 
Its good to see them retuning to our rivers, but they do kill a lot of fish and not only fish, they can kill a lot of young ducks especially hand reared ones.
 
its great to see there numbers are on the up, but they do eat an large amount of fish. they also eat the the non-native crayfish which has gota be a good thing.
great pics by the way,
atb
simon

Yes they do eat the non native cray fish, but they eat more of our native ones, and far to many fish.
For me at least they are not nice to see, and I hope I never see one on my patch, not sure what seeing one would mean to me.
It would spell the end of a 65 year old fishing club, would see the farmer loosing nearly 20k a year for rent, and 360 club members would have nowhere to fish.
It is a worry as we have to so called nature reserves very close by, both have said they want to introduce otters, but neither have bothered to ask local fisheries what their views are, and you can guarantee they won't help or supply otter proof fencing :evil:

Neil. :)
 
I live on a salt water river and we have quite a few otters, mainly eating crabs. Even in the daytime
the buggers play in my boat on a mooring.
edi
 
i'm the assistant bailiff of a historic carp pond that has had trouble with otters-especially last winter. the cost of otter proofing the place is astronomical and needs doing, but finding the funds is tough. they are incredibly destructive and maim a large number of fish as well as killing them (think fox in a chicken coop). of course there is no way that you can control the otters, but at the same time there is little in the way of funding to protect businesses from otter predation. as the strain of carp in the pool are very special and are the descendants of a number of British record fish restocking is not really an option. we lost a common carp of around 23lb last winter among other smaller fish- the 23lb carp was less than one fifth eaten. that fish was worth around 500 quid, maybe more,
 
I don't think people realise how many otters there are, certainly in North Cornwall & North Devon. I found one dead beside the A39 last year--nowhere near a watercourse. One night a couple of years back we had one scampering about on our drive, again nowhere near to a watercourse.
 
its great to see there numbers are on the up, but they do eat an large amount of fish. they also eat the the non-native crayfish which has gota be a good thing.
great pics by the way,
atb
simon

+1

What was the situation when there were Otters in most of the waterways in the Uk were the fish stocks really affected?
Pollution is more of a problem surely and now the rivers are cleaner the otter can survive where once they could not most people surely think thats a good thing.
When I lived in darkest wet wales we had a few about but they seemed to displace the mink well it seemed that way as we were not getting the same mink problems with chickens and game birds
They are much more secretive creatures and are easily scared off by humans unlike mink that don't seem to be so affraid they are heavily protected by law and surely theres a place for them after all it was not that long ago that they were in most places 1950's - 1960's ? was it not DDT and other pollutions were their demise originally

Modern course angling is a huge buisness and it should have the funds to get around the otter problem thats if there really is one, many areas in the south have lots of old quarry workings especially essex that are being used for recreational angling

Don't otters have quite a big territory and there numbers remain quite low even with plenty of food available I love to see them and hope they do well.
 
+1

What was the situation when there were Otters in most of the waterways in the Uk were the fish stocks really affected?

Modern course angling is a huge buisness and it should have the funds to get around the otter problem thats if there really is one, many areas in the south have lots of old quarry workings especially essex that are being used for recreational angling

Years ago Otters were controlled, to the point they weren't a significant problem.
These day that is not an option, and as fisheries are now more numerous and with higher stock densities Otters are a huge threat.
As for fisheries being able to afford Otter proofing their fisheries, not going to happen for most.
As a club of 360 members, with 6 waters of which I am the Fishery Officer, I can tell you now that the cost of doing that work is not sustainable by any
smallish angling club, and without it we lose the fish, which costs us members, and makes it impossible to pay the rent.
Everybody loses out, we have a an annual rent bill of nearly 20k, and running costs are another 15k, I'll leave you to do the maths, but suffice to say finding 100k to fence 6 waters isn't going to happen if we have to pay for it.

Neil. :)
 
im sure in this day and age there is a way to strike a balance between the fishermen and the otter and as phill says the otter was only in decline due to pollution in our watercourses.
 
im sure in this day and age there is a way to strike a balance between the fishermen and the otter

There is, just like there was when otters were more common, Otter Hounds.
Anglers in the main are like shooters, they want what they want, I tell my members that the fish they paid to fish for are now otter food they vote with their feet.
It is the same all over, population rises, modern life means people want more for their money, if they don't get it they go else where.
If otters become a problem to fisheries they will be dealt with the same way Cormorants are, and that would be a sad day..

Neil. :)
 
im sure in this day and age there is a way to strike a balance between the fishermen and the otter and as phill says the otter was only in decline due to pollution in our watercourses.

Come to west Wales we have them every where I regular see them when out lamping and fishing, i had one this year try and sneak up on my duck decoys on the estuary one evening wish I had the video camera . they soon get used to people and will hunt fish in the day in front of you I've found five dead on the roads last year just to and from work . But they are great to watch very good eel hunts in any water way
 
There is, just like there was when otters were more common, Otter Hounds.
Anglers in the main are like shooters, they want what they want, I tell my members that the fish they paid to fish for are now otter food they vote with their feet.
It is the same all over, population rises, modern life means people want more for their money, if they don't get it they go else where.
If otters become a problem to fisheries they will be dealt with the same way Cormorants are, and that would be a sad day..

Neil. :)

Seems like its time for your members and the landowner to dig deep into their pockets or you might be out of a job and no angling for the members

Did Essex ever have an Otter pack probably not will talk to some old hunting people who farm and were born and bred in essex to confirm that, so were they ever controlled or did they self regulate.

If the reserves you were making reference to are Essex WildLife Trust they have already introduced otter along time ago to a few sites and plan to extend that county wide

Yes a sad day if they are dealt with like fisheries people deal with cormorants that would just help LACS with the unspoken bloodsport as they call angling.
 
i find it sad that anybody is talking of otter hounds or illicit shooting as a measure for protecting a few course fish :( whatever about trapping problem individuals but killing one nono in my book
 
i find it sad that anybody is talking of otter hounds or illicit shooting as a measure for protecting a few course fish :(

How would you feel if they were decimating the deer population on land you paid good money to shoot on, and had spent 30 years building up and looking after ?

Neil. :)
 
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