I have always thought it would be great to see otters in the wild but until last Saturday night was never successful in this country. I have seen sea otters off the Californian coast near Monterey. I have spent time waiting near a beach on Mull - where supposedly it is easy to see otters - but in vain. On a trip to Rum with my eldest son we were told where to look for otters but despite promisingly looking movements in the water all we saw was kelp - well actually, my son found otter dung but never the mammal.
We came back from London on a late train on Saturday and walked home. Passing over a small chalkstream my wife noticed squealing sounds from the stream. My first thought was perhaps there was a nightbird, but we could see into the stream due to the floodlights of a nearby building.
We were thrilled to see four otters chasing each other for a few minutes. By the time I thought of getting out my camera two had already headed off under the bridge. But I did get the above shot of the last one. We never thought we would see our first wild British otters in a town!
http://www.doctor-dark.co.uk
2008-02-04 @ 22:48