Night time visitors at the fishery

A tiny insignificant stream emerges from a spring high on a hill just above a small Saxon church. On its way to the church it first feeds a watercress bed, then a series of small lakes before its two thread like arms split in two and encircling the church so that in sits as if on an island. The two ribbon like arms then merge just beyond the churchyard to form a more substantial tributary that winds its way through farmland down to the main river in the valley bottom.

One of the lakes above the church has been turned into a small fishery stocked with some beautiful Rainbow Trout many of which weigh in excess of 9 - 10lbs (4-5Kgs). I watched as a one fisherman landed an enormous looking Rainbow trout that weighed 10Lbs. Its thick slim covered body glistened in the morning sunlight and the rich rainbow colours of its back shone. I was visiting the fishery because i'd heard that they had been visited by otters recently which had taken unto 50 prize specimens from the lake. It is staggering to think that even an otter - which is quick a powerful animal - could manage to haul one of these beast from the lake. Apparently it could however and they had recorded the animal on video.

The Low level electric fence designed to deter the Otter.
Would an inquisitive otter manage to break through?

Otters clearly explore far and wide in pursuit of prey and a large lake full of torpid over fed and over sized  Rainbow Trout is like a trip to the local Resturant for them. These great lumbering fish probably don't move all that fast so are easy to catch. For the otters eating out every night at their local fish restaurant is clearly an appealing option so much so that the owner of the fishery has had to install a low level electric fence at great expense to keep the Otters out.

According to the manager of the fishery most of the otter activity happened in September and October last year and since the installation of the fence they have apparently been untroubled. Thats not to say that the otter gave up. It was seen trying to work out how to circumvent this new security perimeter but so far has not managed to work it out or not that bothered. On a quick walk round the perimeter myself I could see numerous placed where a determined otter could gain access if it showed real determination but so far - fingers crossed - the fence is doing its job.

Talking to the fishery manager and a local fisherman they told me that the Otter was quite large. It could be that this is a dog otter especially considering the size of the fish it took from the lake. They also mentioned that it appears that the otter only ate the internal organs and heart leaving the meat untouched. This is reported by many fishermen and I'm not totally sure why this should be the case. In could be that because otters only have quite small jaws they tend to bite larger prey just behind the gills where the flesh is easier to get its teeth into since the fish is softer and easier to hold on to here. Since the organs such as the heart and so on are here too it stands to reason perhaps that they might go for the iron rich offal first. I have also heard that when tackling large prey they will often bite the fish on the snout since they can't get purchase any other way since their mouths are too small.

I would like to stay in touch with the fishery owner here and perhaps monitor what happens in the future. I may even set up a camera here to see if the otter is still patrolling along this part of the river.