A River Otter Visits Our Lake

Today our little lake was visited by an otter! Cara caught the above footage and we watched it romping in the water for a while after that. It was quite the sight to see, and a number of our neighbors gathered on the lakside opposite it to watch. After Cara's post, however, there was some dispute on the internet as to whether or not it it was actually an otter.

Being a scientist, I decided that, short of capturing the animal, the best way to settle the dispute was to compare the tracks across the lake with example tracks of both animals printed off of the internet. Lacking grad students, Cara and I sent Maxwell and Zara with printouts and a cellphone on a mission to gather data. They did not disappoint.

Clearly this was an otter! If the slide track into the the lake wasn't enough, then the bloody shore where the fish was consumed clearly ruled out the primarily herbivorous muskrat. It will be interesting to see if the otter takes up residency or if it was merely passing through. I, for one, hope it's the former rather than the latter.

To read more about otters in the snow, why not start Snorri & Rupret?