another wild animal ??

bobm

bobm

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I stopped by a local spring creek the other day and I saw what I'm pretty sure is an otter swim out of the water and crawl under some rocks. Anyone else here ever see an otter in SE PA?
 
mink?
 
My guess would be mink too.

On Lycoming and the Loyalsock the rocky outcrops are loade with them and I always see them playing during the warmest part of the day.

Matter of fact, I've seen several near my parents house which has a small stream running in front.
 
An otter was spotted at the Fairmount Fish ladder in downtown Philly. If they are there, I'd see no reason why there wouldn't be any in some of the streams around the SE region.

http://www.fairmountwaterworks.org/river_otter_sighting.php
 
I've seen fishers or minks (not sure which) on Penns and otters on the Yough. You'd be surprised whats out there.
 
After seeing the pictures, reading the story in the local paper, then watching it all again, that night on the news.......... about a wind surfer, being bitten by a shark, while wind surfing on the Willamette River in downtown Portland, Or. 103 river miles from the ocean.... I'll believe any animal sighting seen anywhere!?!

Where I live, on the Oregon Coast, we're SUPPOSED to be "too far out of the El-Nino Stream for any warmer water predator fish to come close to our immediate shores".

3 times, this past summer, surfing was stopped and beach swimming was not allowed, due to the spotting of pods of Great Whites, less than 100 yards off the downtown beaches. (Seaside/Gearhart).

Sea Lions- eating Salmon- up near Bonneville Dam, over 180 river miles from the ocean, is an ongoing battle here, between fishermen and Sea Lion lovers.

With "the ever increasing encroachment of man", I don't think wild creatures have a clue, any longer, as to "where they're supposed to be, or not be"!?

A very real and unbelievable example of this, is my seeing a fly fishing buddy not long ago, wearing a 3 piece suit and he wasn't even being married or buried!??
 
You are correct and that includes the deer that tried to hitch a ride back in July buy leaping into my open drivers side window. But I know what you are saying. I do think, however that Great Whites are not necessarily a warm water predator. I'll look that up.

water temperature of between 12 and 24° C (54° to 75° F),

Is that considered warm?
 
tomgamber wrote:
I do think, however that Great Whites are not necessarily a warm water predator. I'll look that up.

water temperature of between 12 and 24° C (54° to 75° F),

Is that considered warm?
Click to expand...

I was just thinking that, too. South africa is the great white capitol of the world, and from what I understand, that water is friggin' cold. That being said, hasn't the state tried a few times to reindroduce river otters in PA?

Boyer
 
The state has re-introduced both fishers and otters to PA. While I have yet to see a fisher I have seen a couple otters - they're increasingly common on waterways in central PA. I do think some "otter" sightings are likely mink as mink are much more common and tend to hang out along small streams.
As for sharks in rivers: I haven't heard of bull sharks being off the coast of Oregon but this fish is found throughout much of the world and can live in fresh water. They are also man-eaters. The movie Jaws is based in part on a true story in New Jersey in 1916 about a shark that swam up a creek and killed a couple swimmers. Here in Iraq last week there was a bull shark caught by a fisherman in the Euphrates river over a hundred miles from saltwater. They have killed swimmers as far up as Baghdad.
Hhhmmm . . . if we can just figure out how to drive these darn insurgents into the river.... :-x
 
In the summer months,this far up the coast, our off shore waters then clear to the beach, stay between 48 and 56 degrees tops.

These cooler waters are what make the gray whales and killer whales, choose them for migratory paths like they do every year.

Supposedly, (according to the Oregon State Oceanography group, anyway), "Oregon's coastal waters are usually much too cold for warm water predator fish, i.e. Great White Sharks, Barracuda, Rays and their list goes on.

Whichever it is, too cold or just right, I don't have my supply of "Great White Muddlers" tied up, so I'm staying out of my Bellyboat when they're that close to shore.

But, the most enjoyable part of these "shark sightings" is when they're being made and the life guards are going up and down the beaches warning people, NOT, to get into the water............ the INCREASE of people "wading out, into the surf in hopes of snapping a picture of one", triples!??! Same with the last Tsunami warning we had here a year ago............ so may people, INCLUDING a lot of "locals', swarmed TO the beach in such numbers you couldn't see the sand!?!

And, yet, they say that "We fly fishermen are a WEIRD lot"!?!
 
Great whites are a temperate species. However, they usually frequent the lower end of the temperature spectrum. Rule of thumb: sea lions and seals = great whites. I'm a shark nerd. :)
 
An otter? Sure, why not. There have been river otters in the 'kill in Pottstown since the late 80's. I've seen them, so has my friend. We haven't said anything about them simply because there are too many people that would come out and play the "oh, look at the cute otter" game and possibly drive them away. There's been coyote, aka yoddle dogs, in Berks County, particularly the Oley area since the late seventies too. Now the bears are back in Berks county rummaging around Washington, Pike, and Earl Townships. And don't forget the active beaver dams in Bucks county in the eighties.
 
Fishr, Mink, Martins, all are from the weasel family like Otters. Mink and smallish and usually bron but can range the fur color naturally from blond to jet black. Fishers resemble extra large mink but usually stay in remote areas and are dark brown or black. Pine Martins are Remote forrest critters and are extra extra large mink like critters. I've seen Fisher in the Adarondaks, but never had the luck to see a Pine Martin in the wild yet. Mink and weasel are actually very abundant in the area but hard to spot due to their speed. If you think you saw a brown or black flash of fur along a stream or fence row, chances are it was a mink or weasel. Since the fur market crashed in the late eighties and most things are now farmed, not may people trap anymore so it's about time for the different critters to make a big come back. Compound that with developers trying to put as many $275,000 plus houses on every available piece of ground out there and you end up squeezing the wildlife into pockets primarily along running water that we like wading in with long skinny poles. Years ago, back in the late seventies and early eighties, I ran a hundred mile plus truck trapline in Montgomery, Chester, and Berks counties for people I knew with farms. There was a problem with Fox and Raccoons. I was lucky enough to know how to catch them and farmers told each other so I had lots of areas to take fur from. Fox wre running around $75.00 each and coon were around $50.00. I caught quite a few, but more made it past me than I caught. My grandfather always said you only catch the dumb and sick ones. I think he as right.
 
Hi,

I have heard of rumors of otters on the breeches? I have seen alot of mink and or muskrats in the last 2 years. Question how much fish do these little guys eat? I swear since seeing them hanging by one of my holes it has been hard to catch trout out of this always productive stretch of stream...

S,
 
I absolutely possitively saw a river otter at Benner springs once. Mink are every where. Fishers are not. Contrary to their name they are not aquatic mamals. Their favorite food is porcupine. The get em head first.

When I was at PSU I worked with the guys that were re- introducing the Fisher. Cool animal but i would bet the house against seeing one at the Yough
 
Interesting:

Fisher vs. Weasel

While the fisher is closely related to the weasel - and other mammals of the Mustelid family - it is not actually a weasel. The animal does have a body similar in size and shape to the weasel, with a pronounced snout and rounded ears.
Minks and Weasels

Minks and weasels are both members of the Mustelid family, which also includes such mammals as badgers, ferrets, and otters. Both minks and weasels are small carnivorous mammals with short legs.
 
Sorry Tom, my bad.

I have run into a mess of weasels on Walnut. Soon as they see that you are into fish they form a pack and try to push you out of your hole. :lol:
 
Yeah, I remember reading that the Yough and Cassleman rivers were both part of the Otter restorations. The weasels or minks or whatever I saw on penns were much smaller than the otters. They also seemed like they were more concentrated on whatever task they were doing while the otters were just kind of goofing around. I liked that I remember.
 
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