Otter on the Pond!

As I was finishing chores this morning, and dreading returning to the house to work on taxes, a river otter kindly appeared in our pond, hunting along the edge. I grabbed my camera but, boy, it's tough to get a still photo of an animal that is never still and continually goes underwater. Even the videos were difficult. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDm5UJyb2qU and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBZ28m2MDN0

Shirley Puppy eventually saw it and barked, but the otter was not impressed. It basically ignored her, just feeding on the opposite bank. At 10:30 a.m., it swam to a wet mound of matted down pond leaves and curled up for a nap. At 11 a.m., when I decided I really had to go back inside and work on taxes, it was still there, snoozing. I came back out at 3 p.m. and it was gone.

For many years, we've had one or two otters that visit our pond a couple times a year. They used to come more often, when we had Indian Runner ducks. I couldn't figure out what was getting my ducks: all I'd find were the feet on the bank. Then one day I happened to be out by the pond when a duck came charging up the bank with an otter in hot pursuit. The duck, being a duck, turned and ran back to the pond for safety. Of course, it wasn't safe. The otter drowned it. We gave up on raising ducks. Since then, the otters just visit occasionally. Nothing to eat but fish and frogs and other little things.