An Otter Stops By!

We set up a wildlife camera in our historic Victorian spinney and it recently captured one visitor we weren’t expecting—a beautiful wild otter!

This came as a surprise, because, although we do have a wildlife pond next to our woodland, we have never seen an otter there before.

Otters are semiaquatic, meaning that they hunt, feed and mate in water, but shelter, sleep and birth on land. They tend to prefer running water, such as rivers and streams, but they can also be found in lakes, ponds, wetlands, marshes, canals and (as long as they have access to fresh water) coastlines.

They need a big body of water with lots of fish and plenty of shelter to rest and to make their holts (dens). This means that they like mixed habitat, like woodland that is near a body of water or dense vegetation along a river bank.

Various other factors affect otter distribution and their habitat. They like bigger, older trees (particularly ash and sycamore) because their root systems provide cavities for their holts (dens).

This otter was alone, which is not unusual. Otters spend most of their lives alone unless mating or raising young pups, although you can find them in small groups. They are also very territorial and usually do not share space with other otters of the same sex. An otter’s territory might vary from between one to forty kilometres or more, depending on the resources available.

There have been frequent otter sightings in a river less than two miles away. Mammal ecologist Paul Chanin reports that otters will travel kilometres overland and use tiny streams and ditches including dry watercourses as regular routes. That makes sense, because we do have a ditch running around our spinney—and that’s the direction the otter came from.

The otter's tracks

We’ll be looking out for spraint (droppings) in the ditch because that’s how otters mark their ranges—and we’ll be keeping the camera running in case our new otter friend returns!

For an in-depth look at otters, take a look at our longer blog post on otters! For a quicker read, click the links to meet the badgers who live in our wood, meet our baby tawny owls, or meet our polecats!

You might also be interested in Dr. Orton’s blog post about the traditional art of fishing with smooth-coated otters (lutrogale perspicillata) in Bangladesh!

Find Out More

If you’re interested in conservation and wildlife, we have a blog series on British wildlife and a series on the people and wildlife of South Asia, from the altitudes of the Himalayas to the dense mangrove forests of Bangladesh!

We also offer online private tuition in our interdisciplinary course, Culture and Conservation, in which you can explore the links between our natural and cultural heritage and study wildlife and cultures from across the world! This is a template of a possible study route and can be combined, adapted, or designed from scratch to suit your interests and goals.

Dr. Orton will work with you to design a course of private tutorials tailored to your needs, ability and schedule. Click the link to find out what it’s like to work with her and contact us to find out more!

Do More

For those who would like to take action to preserve our wild spaces, there’s plenty you can do. If you're lucky enough to have some land, you could plant a woodland from scratch (click the link to read about how we are planting our own native woodland). Even if you don’t have a big garden, there are plenty of things you can do to help biodiversity in your area. Why not put up a solitary bee nesting box or insect home, create a woodpile as a habitat for small creatures or leave small areas of your garden to go wild?

Think about your own area and how you can protect vulnerable but important parts of your own environment. You might even want to start your own project investigating the cultural importance of wildlife in your area. Dr. Orton works with independent scholars undertaking their own research for an independent project, people writing a book or simply those who have a personal interest. Click the link to find out what it’s like to work with her and contact us to get started!

Reach Out

We’d love to see what you’re doing to help wildlife in your area. Follow the Conservation highlight reel on the Orton Academy Instagram to see what we’re getting up to and tag us in to any snaps you put up!