Smallholders Insurance from Greenlands

Author Topic: An otter....  (Read 9317 times)

blades

  • Joined Jun 2011
  • Huntly
An otter....
« on: September 14, 2011, 09:04:38 am »
We have an otter living in one of our ponds.... not managed to get a picture yet but he's there most evenings Glorious!!
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Fleecewife

  • Joined May 2010
  • South Lanarkshire
    • ScotHebs
Re: An otter....
« Reply #1 on: September 14, 2011, 12:04:46 pm »
How brilliant UMF  :thumbsup:.  We have seen a couple of otters squashed on the road here and a friend who is a gamekeeper complains because otters take some pheasant chicks.  Surely that is a small price to pay for the return of such a wonderful animal?  Maybe not when it's your chicks I suppose.......I would love to see some live so I will have to go and watch down by the river.  Is the pond in the pic/avatar all yours? Ah you say 'one of our ponds' - how many do you have?  Lucky folk  :trophy:
"Let's not talk about what we can do, but do what we can"

There is NO planet B - what are YOU doing to save our home?

Do something today that your future self will thank you for - plant a tree

 Love your soil - it's the lifeblood of your land.

blades

  • Joined Jun 2011
  • Huntly
Re: An otter....
« Reply #2 on: September 14, 2011, 12:33:42 pm »
How brilliant UMF  :thumbsup:.  We have seen a couple of otters squashed on the road here and a friend who is a gamekeeper complains because otters take some pheasant chicks.  Surely that is a small price to pay for the return of such a wonderful animal?  Maybe not when it's your chicks I suppose.......I would love to see some live so I will have to go and watch down by the river.  Is the pond in the pic/avatar all yours? Ah you say 'one of our ponds' - how many do you have?  Lucky folk  :trophy:

Yes the pond in the pic is ours.... we have 2, one pretty big and open and a smaller one which just teems with life. Frogs, toads, newts.... we have herons living here as well. We were lucky when we found this place for sale.
I have attached a couple more pics  :)
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Fleecewife

  • Joined May 2010
  • South Lanarkshire
    • ScotHebs
Re: An otter....
« Reply #3 on: September 14, 2011, 01:31:45 pm »
Now I am squirming with jealousy !! Those are the most beautiful ponds and absolutely perfect for wildlife.  If they were ours my OH would be out there in a coracle and doubtless my younger son would stock them with trout or something unsuitable so he could fish all day long  ::)  I would just lie on the bank watching the life within  :love:
"Let's not talk about what we can do, but do what we can"

There is NO planet B - what are YOU doing to save our home?

Do something today that your future self will thank you for - plant a tree

 Love your soil - it's the lifeblood of your land.

blades

  • Joined Jun 2011
  • Huntly
Re: An otter....
« Reply #4 on: September 14, 2011, 01:45:16 pm »
Now I am squirming with jealousy !! Those are the most beautiful ponds and absolutely perfect for wildlife.  If they were ours my OH would be out there in a coracle and doubtless my younger son would stock them with trout or something unsuitable so he could fish all day long  ::)  I would just lie on the bank watching the life within  :love:

Thank you for the kind comments. The bigger one does contain small brown trout and a feel eels, well at least from a distance that what it looks like the otter and the herons catch? The herons also feed quite a bit on frogs and from what I can see they just about ignore toads all together.
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SallyintNorth

  • Joined Feb 2011
  • Cornwall
  • Rarely short of an opinion but I mean well
    • Trelay Cohousing Community
Re: An otter....
« Reply #5 on: September 14, 2011, 10:43:36 pm »
Beautiful ponds.  <sigh>

Hard to get a sense of scale with pics, but they did remind me of this exchange between two friends at college:

She: blah blah our pond.
He: Lady, that ain't no pond, that's a LAKE.
She: (slightly embarrassed) Oh we always call it the pond.  It's just a pond.
He: Lady, most people don't sail a YACHT on their pond!
Don't listen to the money men - they know the price of everything and the value of nothing

Live in a cohousing community with small farm for our own use.  Dairy cows (rearing their own calves for beef), pigs, sheep for meat and fleece, ducks and hens for eggs, veg and fruit growing

blades

  • Joined Jun 2011
  • Huntly
Re: An otter....
« Reply #6 on: September 15, 2011, 08:01:46 am »
Beautiful ponds.  <sigh>

Hard to get a sense of scale with pics, but they did remind me of this exchange between two friends at college:

She: blah blah our pond.
He: Lady, that ain't no pond, that's a LAKE.
She: (slightly embarrassed) Oh we always call it the pond.  It's just a pond.
He: Lady, most people don't sail a YACHT on their pond!

Yeah I know what you mean.... being from London originally and despite living in Scotland for 20+ years I often find I am saying loch or lake or pond.... I guess ours are small lochs (or perhaps lochens) or decent size ponds.... I'm not sure they would qualify as lakes?  :) The larger of the 2 ponds is (at a guess) around 500m long x 60m wide.
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Rosemary

  • Joined Oct 2007
  • Barry, Angus, Scotland
    • The Accidental Smallholder
Re: An otter....
« Reply #7 on: September 15, 2011, 10:05:28 am »
They look fabulous  :thumbsup:

Hermit

  • Joined Feb 2010
Re: An otter....
« Reply #8 on: September 15, 2011, 11:35:54 am »
Otters love duck, they are our equivelent of foxes so be careful with your stock. Once they know the ducks are there they keep coming back. One neighbour had all her ducks killed by an otter. We get them coming out of the sea and running up the burn to the fresh water to get the salt from their fur. We have to make sure we lock up as you would do from foxes. Saying all that they are a good indication of clean water and are a joy to see

 

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