Otters

[Cleanspade 3,322]

well i have to say i like to see them after decades of there absence. everything is a pest in the wrong place. be they badgers foxes or deer. i really hope they thrive here like they used to.

[pengelli 369]

seen a few when fishing on the cart river near eaglesham a lot of mink too apparently they will kill mink if they are on the same stretch of river

[Cleanspade 3,322]

seen a few when fishing on the cart river near eaglesham a lot of mink too apparently they will kill mink if they are on the same stretch of river

not far from me. there has been a drop in the mink numbers.

[redquil 219]

One ruthless predator alright think water stoat! In the big picture animal for animal bet they do more damage to stock and wildlife than a fox. On nature reserves they must kill bitterns,waterrails and a lot more. They found pads on Farne Islands 3 year back in tern colony.

Pal had caught mink cage trap and otter mangled trap and mink to bits. Mink numbers have decreased since otters have increased. Would love to see them hunted with hounds and even dig one but would take no satisfaction killing one. That said they need taking in hand just for the good of other wildlife not to mention fisherys etc. But Bill oddball n co aint never gona say that are they.

[fox digger 1,086]

Im living beside a small river here, there are loads of them about here. See them very regular, they can be heard whistling most nights around here. Lovely animal for sure. They can be a nuisance when the mink hounds hunt the river, they seem to be everywhere!!! Luckily the huntsman has great manners on the pack and can call them off pretty quick..... Takes a good terrier to shift one if it doesn't want to leave ive been told from yester year......

[Onlyworkmatters 1,584]

Dilly dog I think u should be on a site about pet dogs because I think u use ur dogs for shows and pets gathering what u write on here ur clearly not up to the working terrier discussion

 

lol, take it you dont know the man

[Russel digger 118]

Bolted one 3 weeks ago while running a few fox earth's on river bank as soon as terrier was in the otter was out Never Hit The Bank Straight Into Water Never serviced

[pjmc 90]

I was trout fishing last year and one came up middle of the river and didn't see me,but next thing you could see him taken a hunt and took a lovely couple pound trout from under my nose.nice animal but

[dillydog 8,463]

You must be thousands of years old JD, what with work, digging, lurchers and so on I don't know how you do it.

As others have said anything in the wrong place is a pest. The fisheries have my sympathy but after my lifetime of having little or no Otter in the UK I personally think they deserve a break until they're genuinely the pest you say.

And yes given half a chance I'd work my dogs to one and be happy for the chance, it doesn't have to follow that I'd kill it at the end though.

[J Darcy 5,871]

You must be thousands of years old JD, what with work, digging, lurchers and so on I don't know how you do it.

 

Doubt me if you like....I can back everything I say up. I wouldn't say it otherwise.

 

But anyway, you have your thoughts and I have mine.......

[young man 225]

Bolted a few over the years never dug to one. There's 2 swim in the river in the middle of a town not far from me. You'll see them most mornings and evenings in the river. Great to watch and a lovely animal, that is unless you own a fishery ?

bolted one from the earth at the blue bridge

[WEDGEY 753]

I bet you did

[dillydog 8,463]

JD I don't doubt you've seen them or studied them, but to make the presumption they're at plague proportion and are definitely at pest levels is as daft as me saying there isn't any because I didn't see one catching the bus today.

One thing I can tell you is I've been in the field since I was 15 years old and I've never seen one. I've lamped for years and guess what, I've never seen one.

 

Like I said earlier, I've got other things to worry about these days so I'll leave it at that, have a very good day.

Edited March 9, 2015 by dillydog

[nothernlite 18,077]

Dilly dog there was none down the river where I walk the dogs every day a couple years ago now I can see 3 or 4 on a mile stretch of the river so there the fishermen are cracking up with them last year I seen a couple of rainbow trout dead in the bottom of the river and the first thing that came to mind was bait for the otters wouldn't want to see them poisoned but have heard of it been done in local lochs

[fat man 4,741]

JD I don't doubt you've seen them or studied them, but to make the presumption they're at plague proportion and are definitely at pest levels is as daft as me saying there isn't any because I didn't see one catching the bus today.

One thing I can tell you is I've been in the field since I was 15 years old and I've never seen one. I've lamped for years and guess what, I've never seen one.

 

Like I said earlier, I've got other things to worry about these days so I'll leave it at that, have a very good day.

Not that common a sight around here either.The best time to see them on the rivers around here is when the salmon are making there way up to spawn then you might get a glimpse of one.The 1 we bolted a couple of year back was right on the bank of a river,the drain he/she was in ran right to the edge of the water.1 that i dug back early 80s was in the middle of a wood,a couple of mile from the nearest waterway,the 2nd was in a bank about 100yds from a river and the terrier had run him in.They give a good account of themselves but are in the same class as badger pre-ban.