Sunday, February 24, 2013

Otter Play

I was back at the otter den today with an extremely hopeful outlook.  It is wrong however to be so hopeful with camera trapping because these results are not always typical.

Otter looking right at you in the very left of the image.


This otter den has not disappointed. Otters showed up on several occasions since I checked this camera last.  One thing to keep in mind is that the den has a few entrances, some on water and some on land.  This camera only faces one of the many entrances.

What do the multiple entrances have to do with camera trapping?  Well, my camera only points at one of the entrances.  Only a fraction of the otter movement in and out of the den shows up when one camera points at one land entrance.

The camera was set on its video mode so I included some videos as well as still images that I extracted from the videos.




When the otters do show up though, they seem very photogenic.  They'll play and jump around in the camera's view.  A game of tag also took place during a few of the camera's recording moments.
River otter pops its head up in front of the camera.  It is located at the bottom-right of the image.


Otters are known for their play.  If you visit an aquarium or zoo that has these animals, you know first-hand that otters chase each other on a daily basis.

The last video shows some otter chase or a good game of tag.




3 comments:

  1. May I be frank with you? You are not allowed to complain about your lack of flying squirrels! Your SURPLUS of otters definitely makes up for it. Super cool video. Love the audio feature, and this is a great spot for sure.

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    Replies
    1. Alyssa,
      STILL no flying squirrel luck, but yes I am so thrilled with the results of the otter den.
      I've read your posts about river otters. Do you still have a camera at any of them?

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    2. I personally do not, but the grad student who is studying latrine sites in the area does. I wish she had a blog because she definitely has some amazing photos. A past professor of mine, who I've mentioned before (Backyard Beasts) recently posted an entry of visiting that site again that I posted about back in January. He has some great pics.

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