River Ghosts Instead of river otters, they should be called - TopicsExpress



          

River Ghosts Instead of river otters, they should be called river ghosts, at least on Seedskadee NWR. A recent Master Thesis published by Braden Godwin from the University of Wyoming looked at river otter populations both above and on Seedskadee NWR. River otters are so rarely observed, that latrines or river otter restrooms were used to detect their presence and make an estimate of population size. Godwin estimated a population of river otters on Seedskadee NWR at 26 (range from 22-32). With potentially up to 32 river otters on the Refuge, common sense would lead one to believe that staff and visitors would see them frequently. However that is not the case on Seedskadee NWR. Staff do see them a few times each year, and we do get reports of sightings from visitors, but not frequently. On the morning I took this video, I had observed some very fresh scat on the riverbank, so I knew there was at least one river otter close by. I had no idea there would be a family group that would let me watch for a few minutes. I was amazed at how many crayfish they were catching. It was calm enough I could hear them crunching the crayfish as they ate them. How may river otters do you count? I got greedy and tried to get a bit closer for a better video or photo and was outed. All of them immediately vanished like ghosts. Video: Tom Koerner/USFWS
Posted on: Fri, 08 Aug 2014 15:19:07 +0000

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