…I got one heck of a big surprise!!!

It had been about a week and a half since I first checked the raft so it was about time I went along and had another look.  I wasn’t really expecting much seeing how the first result yielded only tiny field vole prints, and I’d been told that since the stream is quite small and also relatively near a town there wasn’t likely to be anything too large and exciting in the area.  So off I merrily went trudging up the road in my wellies, down the bank and plopped my bag in the mud by the stream.  I donned my gloves and went over to the bank, once again pondering the best way to pull the thing out of the water.  I grabbed the rope securing it to the bank and turned it round long ways so it would slide up easier.  This gave me a perfect view up through the tunnel and what I saw in there got me in a rather big tizzy.  My heart rate leapt as I hurriedly pulled the raft up onto the bank, all the while repeatedly panting, “Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God!”

My fingers fumbled uselessly with the levers securing the lid in place – I couldn’t get it off fast enough!  But once I did my eyes bulged at the sight in front of me and my face almost split in an enormous grin.  Planted very neatly on the clay pad were two near perfect examples of otter prints – yes, I said OTTER!!!  I could not believe it – only the second time this raft had been checked and I’d confirmed the presence of an otter living in the area.  And not only that but an otter is the largest species I’m likely to get crawling over my raft so I’d really hit the jackpot.

Whether this animal is resident in the area or was just passing through will remain to be seen, but it’s still very exciting.  Otter numbers in Europe declined dramatically from the 1950’s during the height of pesticide usage, but thanks to conservation efforts their numbers are slowly increasing and they are once again becoming symbolic of clean and healthy waterways.  It’ll be very interesting to see whether these prints show up again, and if they do, how often; very, very cool!