15 Comments

This is so cool! Thank you for this. I totally get when you say, "At one moment the world felt dark in icy shades of taupe and gray. In the next, the world was a river otter." We have a few in our little county lake and at a distance I think they are amazing. Up close I am a tiny bit terrified of them! They are basically one huge muscle with big teeth and they will hop right up on the dock.

Expand full comment

I've only seen videos of them eating, they seem exuberant to say the least (!) It's so interesting that they will hop up on the dock, your little crew is not so shy of people then?

Expand full comment

Well so far as long as they see me they don't do it, but they will sit there right in front of me and look at me. I tend to sit really quietly on the dock, which is covered and so I'm in the shadow. I know the ducks don't usually see me because even the skittish ones get really close. (I'm a photographer, this is my best way of taking photos.). But with otters I take pics as they are approaching and then when they get really close I make enough noise I'm sure they see me. I've had beavers climb out on the shore within 20 feet of me, they are so docile and sweet, but otters are powerful!

Expand full comment

Wow! I like that stillness brings you closer to these creatures. You might like this thread of animals interrupting wildlife photographers: https://twitter.com/JoaquimCampa/status/1350843546471952387

Expand full comment

What a lovely newsletter! I live downtown on the southern tip of Vancouver Island and for a while there was a river otter than would come up from the Upper Harbour. He (or she?) could be spotted on the sidewalk outside of the art supply store. It was thrilling.

Expand full comment

That's great! I stayed in Sooke once and saw a whole family with 10 young otters at Whiffin spit. I took video of them and a bazillion pics, but I mama otter made it very clear that I needed to stay where I was as they crossed the spit and not take a single step closer to them!

Expand full comment

I love this, the art-store otter, how great is that? Thank you!

Expand full comment

My friend recently moved close to the Hudson Valley in NY and just discovered a family of river otters living in their pond! They've been a delight to see --> https://www.instagram.com/p/CJTlIVds_HU/ https://www.instagram.com/p/CIinGW3llZ0/

Expand full comment

So cool! I love the motion of them slipping back into the water, gone in a flash.

Expand full comment

In non-Covid times, I commute to the State Department by bicycle through Rock Creek Park here in D.C. The trail runs along Rock Creek down to where the Creek feeds into the Potomac. I seem to spot more wildlife in the winter (probably when the trees are bare and it's easier to see through them). There are often Great Blue Herons standing on a rock in middle of the creek and foxes and deer scampering across the path. One early morning, out of the corner of my eye, I spotted something swimming upstream. I skidded to a stop to turn around and follow it. It was clearly a mammal with a head bobbing up and down and the rest of the body hidden by the water. Having recently watched a river otter at the zoo, I was certain I had just spotted this rare creature! However, when I later looked it up, there are only unconfirmed sightings of river otters in the Creek. I likely confused it with a beaver.

Expand full comment

Louise, I am sure I've seen a river otter in a section of Rock Creek Park just near the Boundary Bridge. It's a beautiful spot!

Expand full comment

Really? I hope we're right! And yes, that's a beautiful spot. I've been biking over there a lot in the past year ever since Beach Drive has been closed to traffic all week.

Expand full comment

I walk the trails there with my mother every time I visit her, and I've seen a little swimming head on at least three occasions. Far too small to be a beaver (those boys are chonky!), my only other guess was perhaps a very large DC sewer rat?

Expand full comment

Let's go with river otter. :-)

Expand full comment

Rock Creek Park is so pretty -- ugh you must miss this daily routine. Maybe it was a beaver, which is also excellent, though they make their presence pretty well known with their landscaping. I wonder how things will have changed by the time you're back on the daily path again ... it does kind of sound like the best possible commute.

Expand full comment