Otter friend or foe

[Vagabond]

In a survey 8 out of 10 otters who expressed a preference said that they preferred eels

 

 

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/55066170@N07/6215308793/

 

http://www.beashadegreener.com/2011/08/ott...ll-autumn-2010/

You have to scroll down a bit for this one

 

http://www.allposters.com/-sp/European-Ott...s_i3854926_.htm

 

http://gallery.e2bn.org/image88353-.html

 

The other three didn't reply as they had their mouths full.

Edited November 14, 2011 by Vagabond

[cannibalspinners]

All,

 

Curious as I don't really know. In scat examination could ell be distinguished. Aren't eels fish?

 

Phone

 

I would say they are fish , I would think it would be hard to find remains of eels in scats

So what would the main diet of a sea living otter be

Mussels maybe , Or some other shellfish

Though i would imagine the otter would be spoilt for choice when living in the sea

Does anyone have any info on sea otter feeding habits

[Vagabond]

Though i would imagine the otter would be spoilt for choice when living in the sea

Does anyone have any info on sea otter feeding habits

 

Some years ago, whilst doing geological research on Unst (northernmost of the Shetland Isles) I spent some months camped on the sea-shore and got plenty of opportunity to study wildlife and go fishing.

 

Saw lots of otters. Every time I saw an otter eating, it was eating a shore crab.

 

"Preferred food" ? Two possible explanations -

1. Crabs might be "preferred" because they are plentiful and easy to catch - or

2. Otters might like the taste of crab and if there is no immediate pressure from extreme hunger, seek them out in preference to other prey - I could understand that, I'm pretty fond of a fresh crab-meat sandwich myself.

 

....or of course both the above might apply.

Edited November 14, 2011 by Vagabond

[cannibalspinners]

Some years ago, whilst doing geological research on Unst (northernmost of the Shetland Isles) I spent some months camped on the sea-shore and got plenty of opportunity to study wildlife and go fishing.

 

Saw lots of otters. Every time I saw an otter eating, it was eating a shore crab.

 

"Preferred food" ? Two possible explanations -

1. Crabs might be "preferred" because they are plentiful and easy to catch - or

2. Otters might like the taste of crab and if there is no immediate pressure from extreme hunger, seek them out in preference to other prey - I could understand that, I'm pretty fond of a fresh crab-meat sandwich myself.

 

....or of course both the above might apply.

Well , i am sure the otter wont have any effect on fish numbers in the sea then

If the main food is crab

i suppose river otters may hunt for freshwater mussels ,crayfish ,maybe snails too

[corydoras]

I would say they are fish , I would think it would be hard to find remains of eels in scats

I would imagine the scat would be dissected and examined for eel otoliths. That would be my approach. Steve Walker is the expert on this. He's examined more otoliths than I've had cooked breakfasts.

[Steve Walker]

Aye, otoliths in scats would be the way to go. They are little lumps of calcium carbonate and protein found in the inner ears of fish, and they'll pass right through an otter. You find bits of vertebrae and fin rays as well, but otoliths can be fairly distinctive to look at. Doubt I could tell one from a dace from one from a roach, but I could certainly tell a trout from a carp or a perch. I've not seen a whole one from an eel, but the sections through them suggest a fairly distinctive shape.

[Phone]

Steve,

 

The commercial fishermen along the Mississippi River aquired the custom of trading Freshwater Drum otoliths from American Indians. If you give another fisherman an otolith YOU will have good luck that day.

 

I recently gave my otolith collection to the Haskel Indian University (Indians only). Had several hundred up to the size of (well, let's see, what would we both know?) maybe a slice of boiled egg.

 

They are beautiful.

 

All,

 

Our sea otters (Pacific Northwest) on the telly lay floating on their backs just off shore and gobble down sea urchins. I'm not exactly sure what a sea urchine is.

 

Phone

[cannibalspinners]

Its all way too advanced for me now

Dont know much about the scientific side of the matter

But still an interesting read for me

and no doubt many others

I did not expect 23 pages

and well over 200 replies

a very hot topic

But it is as i said earlier

Interesting

I really enjoy all the expert views

[gozzer]

After reading through this thread, I'm glad to see that AN has (again) proved to be more open minded on the subject, than most other forums usually are.

 

To answer the original question, "Are otters friend or foe"? In my opinion they are neither. They are just another piece of the jigsaw, that makes up the natural flora and fauna of our waterside. They are no more a "foe" than pike, perch, chub, kingfishers, heron etc, and less of a foe than many anglers, and angling bodies.

I find it strange and hypocrytical that some sections of angling can complain about the 'stocking' of less than 200 otters over the last 20 odd years. While many of the same people support the stocking of hundreds of thousands of fish, (that are either alien to our shores, or to the locale)! Talk about double standards!!

I can only assume that those who see otters as a "foe", must do so because they see them as competition. Which again seems strange, and more than a little foolish to me.

 

As to the 'loss' of species. During my many years of angling involvment, I have seen peaks and troughs in species numbers, in many waters. There have been years when some species have dominated a water/area, only to eventually fall, and be replaced by another. This is natural, as the conditions/food supply benefits some species more, and the survival rate of those species increase. As conditions change, they will favour another species, and so on, in a natural cycle. It's only when man interfers will this cycle that we have problems. This can be through discharges, abstraction, bank improvement (?), building etc. It can also be by adding a different species into the mix, (something anglers are particularly good at). These will all have an effect on the make up of water, and not always with the result they hoped for.

 

I see that 'The Traveller' has been mentioned (again) as evidence of otters killing/eating large fish. Could those who believe this to be fact, please supply the post mortem evidence as to the condition and age of the fish. I have scoured the 'net for this information but haven't found it. I could be my lack of skill that's caused me to miss it, so I would be grateful for a link.

 

As usual, all this is just my honest opinion.

 

John.

[Vagabond]

regardless of the 'fact' that so many people have seen otters eating huge fish, none of them have thought to take a snap, yet the same anglers will happily take a picture of a quite unremarkable 1lb perch lying beside a rod.

 

In this day and age of phones, digital cameras and so on with video capability, no anglers, who by and large take more pictures than most folk, have forgotten to take a picture of something that in anyone's book, is a remarkable feat.

 

Absolutely. I am surprised no one has really responded to this. Its not just anglers who are in the countryside with cameras - bird watchers, wild-life enthusiasts, even casual walkers all carry some sort of camera. Some of them have the field-craft necessary to stalk/ambush and photograph a wild creature.

 

As one of our posters recently referred to the "myth" of otters preferring eels, I had a quick trawl via google, and came up with five seperate examples of pictures of otters eating eels.(see seven posts back)

 

By contrast, I could not find one single pictorial example of otters actually killing or eating barbel. Lots and lots and lots and lots of pictures of dead fish that might have died by any number of means, but no otter appeared in any of the pictures.

 

So, several pictures of otters eating eels (also one of an otter eating a coot) but none of Mr Lutra eating barbel - or any other large fish.

 

Admittedly, such pictures might be out there, but I couldn't find any - anyone else want to have a try?

Edited November 14, 2011 by Vagabond