BY STUART WINTER
blurts out, way above the polite levels of muted conversation accepted in any hide. There are no complaints. “Otter!” With one movement, the optical equipment of 20 or so people shifts to scan the northern shore and behold the distinctive shape of this most elusive but enchanting of creatures on patrol. Out of the water, it slithers along like a child’s Slinky spring toy, serpentine back rising and falling with each step forwards.
For an almost exclusively aquatic creature, the otter moves with surprising grace on terra firma. Then again, my experience of otters in and out of the water is scant. A lifetime’s nature watching has only provided enough fleeting views to make a jigsaw identification. Now I am having communion with a sinuous creature whose existence once hung by a thread. How apt this moment of complete revelation should be happening on the eve of Epiphany. Otters in the heart of England would have once been regarded a miracle. Up to four are believed to be patrolling the fish-rich shallows of Rutland Water but at the time of the reservoir’s official opening in 1976, the species was confined to the wilds of Scotland.
Pollution – particularly from organochlorine pesticides – and habitat loss had done for the otter across most of Europe in the late
1950s. Remarkably, otter hunting was only outlawed in the UK in 1978. Enlightened times, improved water quality and, no doubt, headline appearances on nature shows have seen the otter become one of our most cherished wild animals.
The excitement filling the bird hide was palpable as ours promenaded along the shore for 10 minutes before being swallowed by the fading light.
Such shared encounters will only enhance conservation efforts to keep the otter buoyant across the UK. The People’s Trust for Endangered Species numbers the British population at 10,300, with 7,950 of these in Scotland but the range and numbers in England continue to rise. We must have more. One can imagine the looks on townies’ faces if our great urban sprawls could be graced with some of the otter antics revealed in BBC Two’s latest wildlife series – Cities: Nature’s New Wild. The first episode had scenes of a family of smooth-coated otters flourishing amid the manicured parks and pristine waterways of Singapore.
More than 600 miles of rivers and canals crisscross the city, providing an excellent commuting network, with lots of spots to satisfy a fish diet that ensures the otters maintain a target of eating a quarter of their body weight each day. What joy if we could all see such wonders on our next visit into our nearest town.