It was quite happy in the Hotel Pool in the middle of the village and splashed about for about half an hour before heading downstream. Another was seen by anglers a little later in the year as it swam through 4 beats, much to the great pleasure of the anglers and onlookers. The favored prey of the otter is the eel. This slow bottom living creature is rich in fats and and makes an excellent otter meal as it is relatively easy to catch. Naturally otters will also take fish, but generally they cause little harm to salmon and trout populations which swim very quickly.
Most informed anglers are therefore pleased to see otters in the rivers.
While sightings of otters are rare, there are ways to tell that they are about. Their tracks are very easy to identify as they have big webbed feet, their long tails and low tummies often brush the ground. This otter was really having fun. Another way of identifying an otter is through its droppings. These are left in a prominent spot, often on top of a rock.