Interesting Otter Piece

[Dales]

Maybe not but I often equate animal and fish behavior to what we know best our own.

 

If you were on the top of a slide, starving hungry and needed to conserve energy. A waiter came up behind you and tipped your order of food on the slide in front of you and it was slipping away.

 

Would you grab the sprouts or that big bit of roast beef.

 

John

 

p.s don't give me all that vegitarian sh*t

 

 

John, Otters are like Carp anglers they are happy to exist on a diet of weed.

[tinca steve]

Reports are that the biggest fish seem to vanish first, well parts of them as the bodies are often found on the bank, as they are easier to catch and are too big to hide like the little ones.

[Worms]

As far as I know otters have been released all over the country and they have made a big hole in the barbel stocks in the Great Ouse north of the big smoke as well as other places. They are known to go for the biggest fish first and that hurts .

 

 

Table 1 Otter releases/re-introduction1983Ð1999 (in England)

 

Otters Released Number of

 

Release No. Year Otters Date River

 

 

 

01 1983 1/2 5 July Blackbourne

 

02 1984 1/2 16 July Thet

 

03 1984 1/1 2 October Waveney

 

04 1985 1/2 3 July Minsmere

 

05 1987 1/0 2 June Minsmere

 

06 1987 1/1 16 September Glaven

 

07 1988 1/1 26 September Catfield

 

08 1989 1/1 6 May Stour (Dorset)

 

09 1989 1/1 7 December Wylie (Wilts)

 

10 1989 1/1 11 December Yare (Norfolk)

 

11 1990 1/1 2 July By Brook (Wilts)

 

12 1990 1/1 20 October Catfield

 

13 1991 1/2 14 May Glaven

 

14 1991 1/2 26 May Stour (Dorset)

 

15 1991 1/2 9 October Lea/Ash (Herts)

 

 

 

16 1991 1/2 7 December Stort (Herts)

 

17 1992 1/1 29 March Waveney (Norfolk)

 

18 1992 1/2 10 July Wissey (Norfolk)

 

19 1992 1/0 14 August Glaven (Norfolk)

 

20 1992 1/0* 14 August Yare (Norfolk)

 

21 1993 1/2 19 May Tiffey (Norfolk)

 

22 1993 1/2 30 June Deben (Suffolk)

 

23 1993 1/2 August Itchen (Hampshire)

 

24 1993 1/0* October Wissey (Norfolk)

 

25 1994 1/2 May/June Gwash (Rutland)

 

26 1994 0/1* 1 June Itchen (Hampshire)

 

27 1994 2/2 July/Sept Welland (Rutland)

 

28 1994 1/2 14 October Catfield (Norfolk)

 

29 1994 2/2 November Willowbrook (Northants)

 

30 1995 2/0* 22 March Wissey (Norfolk)

 

31 1995 2/2 30 April & 30 May Gt. Ouse (Beds.)

 

32 1995 2/2 27 July & August Ouse Washes (Cambs.)

 

33 1995 2/2 29 Sept & Oct Glem (Suffolk)

 

34 1995 2/2 11 & 29 October Nene (Northants)

 

35 1996 1/1 April Waveney (Norfolk)

 

36 1996 2/2 4 & 30 June Hamford Water (Essex)

 

37 1998 2/4 June-November River Ivel (Beds.)

 

38 1999 6/11 March-October Upper Thames (3 sites)

 

Up to the end of 1999, 117 otters had been released by the

Otter Trust.

 

* indicates a replacement.

 

 

Otters are known to eat fish. Like any predator they will go for the prey animal that offers the maximum nutritional benefits against effort expended to catch it. Large fish may not be able to "hide" but fish such as barbel can swim much faster and much farther than an otter. To consistently catch large barbel in a suitable (for barbel) river it is likely that these prey individuals are not at the peak of fitness. Persistent angling pressure on such rivers whereby repeated captures of specimen fish are common can cause fish to suffer from lactate build up that severely limits a fishes ability to swim at peak speed/duration. Recovery times from lactate build up are increased exponentially following successive captures within (approximately) 12-48 hours.

 

 

 

Edited January 26, 2013 by Worms

[Phone]

Worms,

 

Why would you prolong this thread with facts?

 

Phone

[Worms]

Worms,

 

Why would you prolong this thread with facts?

 

Phone

Phone,

 

For the same reason that people keep posting inaccurate rumours about otters!

Worms,

[Steve Walker]

Trouble is, people don't want to hear the truth.

 

Another thing they probably won't like to hear - if the natural state of a given river is more otters and smaller barbel, that's what it ought to be restored to. To come out with all the "guardians of the waterways" guff and then express a preference for a native mammal to be absent from a river for the sake of an ego trip driven by a number on a scale takes some chutzpah!

[gozzer]

Trouble is, people don't want to hear the truth.

 

Another thing they probably won't like to hear - if the natural state of a given river is more otters and smaller barbel, that's what it ought to be restored to. To come out with all the "guardians of the waterways" guff and then express a preference for a native mammal to be absent from a river for the sake of an ego trip driven by a number on a scale takes some chutzpah!

 

Although I've often tried, I couldn't put it better myself Steve, Spot on.

 

John.

[kirisute]

http://sussexotters.org/pdf/otters_and_stillwater_fisheriesv4_080501_FINAL%20PRINT-CGS3.pdf

found this which I think makes a good read..all info in it seems more than reasonable too.

[Phone]

kiri,

 

The diet numbers are interesting. Where cray are abundantly present our otters fish diet is only 33%.

 

We've been down this road before.

 

Phone

Edit: Otter, big males, eat one Kg a day. So one third is one third of a Kg of fish. Much less in winter.

Edited January 29, 2013 by Phone

[kirisute]

im a bit like Cory on this; ill believe what I see with my own eyes....

a lot of stuff I think is being blamed on otters; and a lot of it simply doesn't sit right with my knowledge of how they feed and hunt.

if, one day, im sitting down and I see an otter dragging a 20lb carp out of the water and merrily eat a very small portion of it...then ill change my mind somewhat....

until then I kind of think they will take easy prey...they will eat smaller fish and their preferred diet...and if a fishery doesn't recognise the fact 100's of fish are being slaughtered around its banks and left in piles of bones then something about the fishery owner just isn't right!