A Map of Otter Valley

A sketch Map of Otter Valley

This map is a simple sketch representation of the valley where the Otters and I live. Like a struggling network of veins and capillaries in danger of becoming choked by years of human excess and over indulgence, these life-giving ribbons of water criss-cross the valley forcing their way under roads, through industrial estates and across open farmland, southwards, towards the open ocean, little more than 25km away. My small part of the river valley is no more than about 2.5k m2 and is crushed, like a green finger, between the hard boney areas of human habitation to the west and east, more open rural fields and small villages to the north and the choking urban sprawl of the towns and cities to the south. 

Despite the obvious challenges facing wildlife in this environment Otters seem to thrive here. True their numbers had dwindled significantly for various reasons. But, their reintroduction in the early 1980s means that along the entire length of this river from source to mouth there are as many as 13 Otters. Of course nobody can be certain but it is a promising sign that nature has remarkable powers of regeneration and survival against all the odds. Its only fitting that we - so often the destroyers - should give mother nature a helping hand now and again.

You might wonder why i don't keep my options open. Why I don't explore a much wider area, longer stretches of driver to increase my chances of success. Well the plain fact is that Otters have quite large territories and its next to impossible to monitor the entire range without devoting ones entire life to the task. A female otter may have a range of 20-30Km and they will defend their territories quite vigourously. Males on the other-hand might travel across the territories of several females and have a range of unto 70km. Consequently it makes sense to study a small area where you know there is significant Otter activity and thereby learn as much as one can through dogged determination and reasonably reliable observations carried out over time.

In addition Hampshire is a county well endowed with crystal clear chalk streams that babble along beds of golden gravel with delicate fronds of Common Water Crowfoot (Ranunculus aquatlis) waving like the hair of water nymphs in the gentle current. It is the ideal environment for fish, in particular trout and where there is trout there are always fishermen. Trout fishing is a rich man's sport and much of the riverside access is private, controlled by private fisheries and fishing clubs. Therefore undertaking any sort of study, amateur or professional, is difficult because so little of the waterway is accessible. This does of course have its benefits especially for the Otters. The rivers are for the most part very clean and by-and-large kept that way. The fish stocks are good and because the general public are kept away there is little human disturbance along the river bank. So the fisheries have their good and bad points, they help manage and maintain the rivers but block access to most people. They manage and maintain the river network largely for the benefit of the fishermen but in so doing they also encourage a more diverse range of wildlife which, I guess, can only benefit all of us in the long run.

Shetland Otters

Last summers trip to The Shetland Isles was punctuated with frequent sightings of Otters. Usually these were at some distance and the Otters were invariably hunting in the sea so extremely difficult to spot as ever changing landscape of waves hid them from view. At best all one can see is a distant brown blob being tossed hither and thither on the waves. "is that really an Otter". Its not until the Otter decides to do its tell-tail vertical dive beneath the waves in pursuit of its prey that you see its rear end roll over as it dives, like some miniature breeching whale, that its distinctive tail can be clearly observed that you know you are looking at an Otter.

Not all sightings at distant ones however. One one occasion on the Island of Unst I got up early and went for a short pre-breakfast stroll down to the nearby bay. Of course i did not take my camera or even my binoculars feeling especially lazy that day. This is always a mistake as any naturalist will tell you. As I reached the bay i could clearly see a group of common seals basking on the rocks but then, suddenly, a small v shaped movement in the water, and another then another. Three Otters appeared from nowhere, a mother and two cubs, foraging along the sea shore at low tide. They then came closer and clambered on to a rock no more than 20m away and sat there eating a butter fish. I've learn't my lesson now and always carry a camera and some binoculars with me at all times.

The sketch above is based on a thrilling 30 minutes we spend watching this female Otter hunting in a small bay on the Island of Yell. She appeared to come out of the water after a long fishing expedition and disappeared behind some rocks. Carefully we made our way along the edge of the small cliff of peaty soil above her ensuring we remained up wind of her and there no more than 4 meters away she sat quietly resting on a sunny rock. Despite seeing we where there she did not seem to be that bothered and went back to sleep. We quietly retreated with a few nice photos and left her in peace wrapped in a blanket of seaweed for extra warmth.

I can only hope that I can get this close to a River Otter here in Hampshire. Seeing one at all would be a great start!

The Starting Point

Following a trip to the Shetland Isles in 2010 during which I experienced the enormous thrill and privilege of watching wild Otters in their natural habitat for the first time, I began to wonder whether I could discover evidence of Otters nearer to home, perhaps in my own backyard in deepest Hampshire.

I knew that Otters were present - even in hampshire - and these enigmatic creatures had even been filmed no more than a mile or so from my own front door. Of course, most people who know anything about Otters will tell you that it is nearly impossible to see them in the wild especially those that dwell on the rivers and inland waterways of the UK. Unlike the coastal Otters of The Shetlands, tied to the the cyclical ebb and flow of the tides, and therefore active during daylight hours, river otters are mostly nocturnal, like slippery ghosts silently stalking the the inky black rivers of night.

River Otters are rarely seen by day but we are left tantilizing signs of their presence. If one really looks hard you can discover the telltale signs of their nightly travails, their ceaseless foraging and inquistive exploration up and down their watery world.

So, I have set myself a task over the next 12 months which is basically to try to get to know and understand the Otters that live near me. To really look closely at what is going on in my own backyard Rather than travel hundreds of miles to see Otters in remote Shetland wouldn't it be fabulous to observe them right here in Hampshire. My aim is to try to learn to read the signs and symbols left behind by these ghostly apperitions and to get as close as I can to understanding their movements, their habits and routines and a day to day basis and - hopefully - to see them face to face.