I posted the other day about seeing an otter in Ivy Lake, it always a treat to see them. They are so superbly adapted to their environment and have come back from the very brink of extinction in this country. When I started taking an interest in wildlife the very idea of seeing one seemed fantasy.
I saw one again today, however the circumstances were altogether different. This one, perhaps even the same one as I saw last Sunday, was dead beside Ellingham Drove.
The end of an otter
Taking a look at the body the many adaptations that make them so at home in the water were clear. The strong, muscular tail, huge webbed feet and dense fur. A particular feature I noticed though was the whiskers, they were very long and pointed down under the chin and out to the sides at least as far as the head was wide on each side.
Otter whiskers are very long indeed!
These whiskers will act as “feelers” helping the animal to seek out prey, much of which is found in dense weed or under banks. Although they do catch fish in open water, they also enjoy digging out signal crayfish from under overhanging tree roots or eels from reedmace roots.
A lot of otters get killed on roads, they are not very fast on land and seem to have no road sense at all. Most will have large territories and cover a lot of ground each day. Blashford Lakes is a good area for otters but it is criss-crossed with roads. Although there are many lakes, a lot now have otter fencing around them to keep otters out and protect valuable fish kept for anglers. In effect this fragments the habitat forcing the animals to travel more and cross more roads making accidents more likely. I hope this casualty was not the one I enjoyed watching on Sunday, but I fear it was.
Blashford Lakes Nature Reserve 
Will this poor creature be examined to see what in fact it died of?
Whenever possible we arrange for the Environment Agency to collectthem for analysis. They get sent off to Cardiff and they will look into cause of death and also, I think, look at levels of accumulated pollutants. This one was picked up today so it will provide some information that might help other otters survive.
It will be interesting to learn the outcome.