A YouTube video of a river otter (Lontra canadensis) that stopped at my pond for an overnight visit and I was lucky enough to watch him swim, play, hunt, and eat a fish … tap on the photo to go there.
The last several years, in mid-January, I get a one day visit from what I believe is the same otter. Last year I didn’t have the chance to video him, but this year I was lucky enough to watch him catch a fish and then swim to the other side of the pond, near the brush pile, and eat it.
I’m not sure where he came from or where he’s headed, but he stops for an overnight and then he’s gone. I do live in a large watershed, which is a chain of lakes and streams that are all interconnected and drain into an area, known as Peck Sink Watershed. Peck Sink is a sinkhole that drains directly into the Florida aquifer. The watershed includes about 11,000 acres so he has a very large habitat to explore and I just hope he stays out of harm’s way.
He’s cute, but ferocious if you’re a fish.