see otters in the wild

Ha! My M-i-L phoned the other day to say they had just been watching four otters playing by the river. Talk about rubbing it in! I bet there’ll be no sign of them when we go to visit next month.

They’re everywhere around Skye and the Hebrides. The Kylerhea Otter Haven is an otter-watching park off the coast, and you can see river otters swimming in the local rivers, pretty much anywhere you go. Boaters can have close encounters with them, but I didn’t get to do that. I did visit Sandaig, though - aka. Camusfearna - the place where Ring of Bright Water was written.

There are otters all around my house although they be china, cuddly toys, pictures or on clothes. Like other people I have seen otters in captivity, but this does not satisfy my otter obsession.

I first recall seeing otters at the Cotswold Wildlife Park when I was on a Primary School trip. I was fascinated despite them being fed fresh chicks at the time. I have since seen several different types of otter at various different sanctuaries/wildlife parks and am a member of the IOSF.

I have been to Dartmoor and the Isle of Skye, but am yet to see a wild otter. I’ll just keep looking.

We had a holiday on one of the small cruisers many years ago (before dogs and children!) One afternoon we were moored up, I was reading on deck, looked up and saw an otter on the opposite bank a few yards away. I watched it for a few minutes until it slid into the water.

I thoroughly enjoy seeing otters on television, but this was an almost magic few minutes.

Good luck!

The sea otters in Vancouver Zoo were very cute, but they don’t count for this goal. Having read both “Tarka the Otter” and “Ring of Bright Water” as a child, I want to see wild otters in this country.