River Otter Rodeo
December 14, 2020
Having grown up watching cowboy movies and living on a cattle ranch, I sometimes enjoy some old cowboy classics. So, today I was watching John Wayne in “Stagecoach,” when out of the corner of my eye I saw some movement out on the my lawn. I expected to see a squirrel, fawn, rabbit, or possum, but on closer examination, they were about possum-size but with long tails. There were three of them with a larger one in the lead and two slightly smaller ones running behind.
Now my study/office occupies the north-east corner of our home and has one window on the east and another on the north. I first saw these animals run past the east window. They looked like large rats and ran in a kind of loping manner.
They were running in a westerly direction, so I knew that they would pass in front of my other window. I bounded out of my desk chair to my north window where I keep a camera ready on a tripod for such occasions. By now I recognized them as river otters — likely a mother and two almost grown offspring. They were moving too fast to capture their photos on my camera but were heading toward my pond which contained my two pet goldfish. I immediately had visions of those pesky river otters crunching those goldfish — that swim toward me every day when I feed them. I actually ran out the back door, and down the hill toward the pond to scare those otters away and protect my fish.
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| River Otter |
By the time I reached the pond, the otters were long gone and my fish were safe. Several times, I have watched river otters chasing fish in our creek, so I know they are excellent fish hunters. Whew!
Our creek is about 1/4 mile down the hill and through the woods, so that is where these otters were likely heading. Maybe I’ll see them there tomorrow.
In about 50 years that we have owned this property, I have never seen an otter so far from water. I can’t imagine what would have caused a mother otter to take off across the land as these three did. They were very exposed to coyotes, dogs, and bobcats. It was a very unexpected event.
When I returned to the study, I found that in my hurry to see the otters, I had not stopped the "Stagecoach" movie and it was still running. John Wayne was lying on top of the vehicle shooting Apache Indians as they chased the stagecoach across Arizona. How he could accurately shoot Apaches who were riding full speed on their horses about 100 yards away from that bouncing stagecoach was simply amazing. John was young then and exhibited few acting skills but he was still a commanding presence. He got the girl and rode happily into the sunset. Oops! Did I just give away the ending?
Anyway, I guess it’s these kinds of mini-adventures and a few unbelievable movies that keep my life interesting in these Covid-infested, lockdown times.
