Otter friend or foe

[cannibalspinners]

I thought I'd explained this before, but here goes anyway.

Winter is fast approaching.

The otter needs to get as much fat down his neck as possible to survive the coming months.

That means he's only going to eat that little bit behind the salmon's head because that's where the fat is.

I wonder how the Otter knows where the fattest part of the salmon is

It does not have the honour of reading your posts for knowledge on that subject

However ,I think you have great knowledge in the field & your posts are well worth a read

[Phone]

cannib,

 

I too have wondered that? I bet their mums teach them. Life's short, eat dessert first.

 

Phone

[Andy Macfarlane]

They probably know from having eaten them for 1000s of years.

[Vagabond]

The otter needs to get as much fat down his neck as possible to survive the coming months.

That means he's only going to eat that little bit behind the salmon's head because that's where the fat is.

 

I found that surprising. Not the fact that the otter eats around the salmon's neck, but the assertion that the neck is a fat-rich area. Having eaten not a few salmon, sea-trout, rainbows and brown trout - including fish up to over twenty pounds, I would agree that the most palatable part of a large salmonid is just behind the head. However, I have always thought it was because it was pure muscle, and therefore protein-rich (although with a certain amount of fat present in palatable amounts).

 

I can tell you which are the fat-rich areas of flesh on salmonids, and that is the underside and flanks enclosing the guts - ie the body wall. There is so much fat there that I find it unpalatable.

 

If I catch a salmonid of over about eight pounds, I send it for cold smoking. If you send the smoker the whole (gutted) carcase, he will smoke, slice and package (and make you pay for) as much flesh as possible, including the fatty body wall - which I don't eat.

 

So I learnt the trick of trimming off the body walls before sending the fish for smoking - that way only the prime flesh is processed.

[Phone]

Vagabond,

 

OK, I admit, I looked on the internet. "....Once the bears aren't so hungry they will eat only the eggs, brains, and skin of the salmon, the most nutritious and fatty parts."

 

I bet that would include the part of the underbelly you are talking about. (In that order BTW.)

 

Phone

[cannibalspinners]

Vagabond,

 

OK, I admit, I looked on the internet. "....Once the bears aren't so hungry they will eat only the eggs, brains, and skin of the salmon, the most nutritious and fatty parts."

 

I bet that would include the part of the underbelly you are talking about. (In that order BTW.)

 

Phone

Such a shame to be eaten for a small part of fat

Still thats nature

[corydoras]

I found that surprising. Not the fact that the otter eats around the salmon's neck, but the assertion that the neck is a fat-rich area. Having eaten not a few salmon, sea-trout, rainbows and brown trout - including fish up to over twenty pounds, I would agree that the most palatable part of a large salmonid is just behind the head. However, I have always thought it was because it was pure muscle, and therefore protein-rich (although with a certain amount of fat present in palatable amounts).

 

I can tell you which are the fat-rich areas of flesh on salmonids, and that is the underside and flanks enclosing the guts - ie the body wall. There is so much fat there that I find it unpalatable.

 

If I catch a salmonid of over about eight pounds, I send it for cold smoking. If you send the smoker the whole (gutted) carcase, he will smoke, slice and package (and make you pay for) as much flesh as possible, including the fatty body wall - which I don't eat.

 

So I learnt the trick of trimming off the body walls before sending the fish for smoking - that way only the prime flesh is processed.

Ah well there you go. One learns new things every day. I had always thought them little bits behind the head were full of fat, but your right I find those bits that you don't like a tad nauseating too.

Edited November 20, 2011 by corydoras

[corydoras]

Such a shame to be eaten for a small part of fat

Still thats nature

Orca hunt and kill minke whale calves. They will chase the calf and it's mother for days until the pair are exhausted and can swim no more. They will then try to get the calf onto it's back and drown it. When the calf is dead they will only eat the fat rich tongue. This is not a "shame". This has been happening for millions of years before Homo sapiens evolved and will, I hope, continue for millions of years after man has driving himself into extinction.

 

It's the same with otters, bears and fish. It's nature, just as you say, but it's not "sad" and its not a "shame". Nature has no shame. The universe doesn't love fish, and it doesn't love you either.

Edited November 20, 2011 by corydoras

[cannibalspinners]

Orca hunt and kill minke whale calves. They will chase the calf and it's mother for days until the pair are exhausted and can swim no more. They will then try to get the calf onto it's back and drown it. When the calf is dead they will only eat the fat rich tongue. This is not a "shame". This has been happening for millions of years before Homo sapiens evolved and will, I hope, continue for millions of years after man has driving himself into extinction.

 

It's the same with otters, bears and fish. It's nature, just as you say, but it's not "sad" and its not a "shame". Nature has no shame. The universe doesn't love fish, and it doesn't love you either.

Well , As they say Nature can be cruel and Shows NO mercy

for the Weak

[Tigger]

Well , As they say Nature can be cruel and Shows NO mercy

for the Weak

 

After following your posts with interest it appears to me that you is on a wind up mission...is you not ?