evening of the otters

We live in a part of Virginia where suburbanization and growth are king.

Our local economies amortize and capitalize their bonds anticipating a steady increase in the county population and growth in the tax base.

Slowly the little areas of wilderness that remain are dwindling and are in perile, parceled as they are between a few large protected farmsteads and the new golfing communities/ housing devlopments and big box retailers.

Lake Frederick is one such refuge, owned by the Dept of Natural Resources.

Unfortunately in the surrounding forests, a new condominium is constructed weekly.

Usually I have been witness to the demise of our wild places and natural areas,
so imagine my joy when this evening I discovered river otters on Lake Fred.

I had rounded a point in the shore, when a large animal slid from the bank into the water.

Beaver, I thought, as I had recently seen much tree damage along the shoreline, but as I approached, two large canined heads surfaced and snorted at my unusual scent.

Otters in the lake!

Last week I had heard a fisherman's tall tale that he thought he'd seen otters, and I figured he was either drunk or blind (or both), for otters are wilderness creatures not accustomed to living in proximity with man.

But it was otters, and as they stared me down from fifteen feet away, they snorted and blinked their otter eyes, and snorted again, before disappearing deep beneath the water's surface.

I have seen river otters in the zoo and in movies and on Walt Disney, but I have never stumbled on them in the wild.

Dr P told Dr B about them and we were all quite thrilled (Dr B runs the Blue Ridge Wildlife Center that rehabilitates injured wildlife).

Oh happy day!

-Bob

--PS: anyone want to try a good brew, try the stovepipe porter from Otter Creek brewery in Middlebury VT

PPS: no blip of the otters, the encounter was much too brief to allow me time to retrieve my camera from it's dry case. I'll try and be prepared next time...