The home range of an otter is extensive, covering as much as 50 miles. It may take two weeks to a month for an otter to cover its territory. An otter rarely stays in one place for more than a few days. While moving from one water course to another, it may have to make several overland passages. This change of venue meant dealing with a lot of car, bicycle and foot traffic since there\u2019s a road bordering this\u00a0bay. That\u2019s especially true right now at peak tourist season; in winter there\u2019s very little traffic of any kind, I might see one car in 15 minutes.\u00a0The otters were pretty skittish about all the activity.<\/p>\n I\u2019m quite a ways down the beach, using a zoom lens, but even so, mom is wary of me<\/p>\n Note: I have lots of videos in this edition of the Otter Mom\u00a0& Baby\u00a0chronicles. This first one is 35 seconds.<\/p>\n .<\/p>\n Still, even though alert and wary of people and loud cars, the mom and pup went about their usual routine of alternately fishing and sandbathing. One time\u00a0mom came powering in toward shore with a big mouthful, baby following closely. When she got out I saw she was clenching TWO gunnels in her jaws! Never seen that before. Gunnels are the bread and butter of otters around here, incredibly abundant long thin bottomfish, easy to catch (for an otter) and small enough to eat while floating out in the water. But this time she was bringing the fish in to the beach for the baby.<\/p>\n (52 seconds:)<\/p>\n .<\/p>\n The otter pup has been following mom around for weeks watching how she hunts and catches bottom fish. But today was a major milestone. The pup started catching its own gunnels! It\u2019s a tricky business, between catching and then eating them while floating on the surface. Mom easily caught 3 to 4 for every one the pup caught. But it\u2019s early days yet.<\/p>\n (One minute:)<\/p>\n .<\/p>\n Perhaps as a reward for all the pup\u2019s hard work, mom brought in a much bigger fish, a sculpin. These need to be taken apart before swallowing in any case, so she was giving the pup some experience in that. It was \u00a0a bit messy, but then again, have you ever eaten a whole fish without using your hands or implements?<\/p>\n (48 seconds:)<\/p>\n .<\/p>\n That was enough fishing for the day. The otters did some thorough sandbathing. Seemed they were ready for a nap\u2026.but somewhere\u00a0more quiet than this busy beach.\u00a0<\/p>\n Sandbathing to get dry<\/p>\n Waiting for bicyclists to go by. The otters mind them less than cars.<\/p>\n After looking both ways, waiting for a pause in car and bicycle traffic,\u00a0they crossed the road. I was sitting halfway down the beach and by the time I walked down to where they\u2019d disappeared through the fence they were most of the way across the field. Otters can move fast on land when they want.<\/p>\n (One minute 24 seconds:)<\/p>\n .<\/p>\n
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