Otters and other tracks: Snapshots in the snow
A camp owner talked about watching an otter for over an hour as it dove through holes in the ice, hauled out fish and ate them
The first weekend of December, we had the perfect skiff of snow for seeing who our neighbours are – the snow was light and dry and not too deep: a clear canvas for capturing animal tracks.
On the Saturday the Fundy Erratics were hiking around McGill and Big Molly Upsim lakes in Annapolis County. We saw deer tracks on the road and many small rodents and one spot we could see where a bird (an owl perhaps) had touched down briefly on the snow.
But a better surprise came at one of the many runaround dams on Big Molly Upsim. An otter had come off the lake and slid over the wooden slipway – and best off all, the otter was still there, standing at a hole in the ice at the bottom of the dam.
The otter quickly disappeared under the ice, but luckily we had all the time in the world to examine its tracks. The slide tracks were about 30 cm wide and it had travelled about 1.5 metres on its belly with its tail leaving a clear mark behind him.
We could also see where it had come over the ice of the lake and some of its slides there were close to 4 metres long. What fun!
You could see too in its regular running gait all four paws were hitting pretty close together; and his tail was leaving a small print between each grouping of paw prints: four paws, tail; four paws, tail; four paws, slllliiiiidddddeee; four paws, tail; four paws, tail; four paws, sllllliiiddddeee!
Amazingly, we crossed otter tracks again on another road and at another dam and I’d guess it was the same animal.
I talked with one of the camp owners there and he told me about sitting in his camp one day, watching an otter on the frozen lake for over an hour as it dove in through holes in the ice, hauled out fish and ate them right there.
When we got home from Annapolis, I went for a quick run before dark at Van Tassel Lake. I only mention this because on the Sunday morning, when I went for a walk in glorious sunshine, I was able to see where a coyote had followed my tracks the night before.
I also saw lots of snowshoe hare tracks and squirrels’ and other rodents I haven’t figured out yet.
And then, amazingly, for the second day in a row, I came across otter tracks in the snow. I couldn’t be sure if it was just one or several otters sliding and playing on an access road at Van Tassel Lake. I tracked it or them down to the shore and sure enough the tracks led out over the ice, four paws, four paws, four paws, sssssllllliiiidddddee.
If you’re interested in more about the river otter, I highly recommend The Otter’s Tale by Simon Cooper – it paints an informative, surprising story of a year in the life of an otter.
Larry Goodwin and I just read it and we have both been wondering about tracks we saw in the deep snow on the Acacia Valley trails a couple years ago.
We’re pretty sure they were otter … and we’re just waiting for the next perfect skiff of snow to go have a look for more tracks.
It is, as Diane said, a lot of fun to see just who your neighbours are.
Jonathan Riley is a former journalist with this newspaper. He is now the Trails and Open Spaces Coordinator for Municipality of the District of Digby. Above all, he is a true outdoorsman and loves to share his passion and knowledge with others as he truly encourages everyone to take a hike.