Otter in valley forge ?!

D

Dabandfly96

New member
Joined
Dec 1, 2023
Messages
11
Location
West chester
I was 1/2 mile past Knox covered bridge with my brother. We were both watching the creek when we heard a raucous through the stream in between us and saw something large dive into the water. My brother immediately thought it was a black lab, but nothing came up from the water! We were in disbelief- what did we just see ?! It had to have been an otter because of its distinct coat. But this thing was massive. Has anyone seen or heard of river otters in valley forge ??

Dark brown, wet coat similar to that of a lab, made huge splashing stomping through the shallow creek, made a huge splash, never to be seen again..
 
An American river otter was photographed on Ridley Creek back in early May. First sighting in over 100 years. That could well be what you saw. They can get big.
 
otter and its little brother, the mink, are everywhere. you normaly dont see them because they normaly hunt at night and eat your fish. you see otter and mink during the day either because they are mating or they are starving. otter eat the fish and then will throw up the scales on the river bank. mink will eat anything alive.
 
I swear I saw an otter pop out of the water and do some twisty, maneuvering tricky things in the Skook last summer..I also see minks and beavers
 
Anyone see otter in Easton? Or was I seeing a beaver? It was a quick sighting in low light, but I know it was not a mink and far too long to be muskrat...

I am seeing beaver signs and sighting in many Delaware and Skuke tribs, but did not get a good look at the tail of this here creature.
 
I was really excited to read this post.. I saw something similar in Valley creek within the last year. Seems like a similar spot too (between Knox bridge and iron bridge).

It was the morning after significant rainfall and the water was pretty turbid. I looked upstream between casts and saw what I thought was a good-sized log floating down the center current. It moved and I made eye contact and thought “whoa that’s an otter!” It dove and swam downstream, passing maybe 10ft in front of me, barely submerged. As I tried to get a better look at it, the two things that stuck out were

1) it had a long thin tail, not the paddle tail of a beaver

2) it was much bigger (3 ft?) than the mink I see there, but had a similar sleek build (not as stocky as beaver/muskrat)

After the fact, I started to second guess myself, since there are many mink and beaver in that creek, but no other mentions of otters that I could find.
 
nd1001 said:
I was really excited to read this post.. I saw something similar in Valley creek within the last year. Seems like a similar spot too (between Knox bridge and iron bridge).

It was the morning after significant rainfall and the water was pretty turbid. I looked upstream between casts and saw what I thought was a good-sized log floating down the center current. It moved and I made eye contact and thought “whoa that’s an otter!” It dove and swam downstream, passing maybe 10ft in front of me, barely submerged. As I tried to get a better look at it, the two things that stuck out were

1) it had a long thin tail, not the paddle tail of a beaver

2) it was much bigger (3 ft?) than the mink I see there, but had a similar sleek build (not as stocky as beaver/muskrat)

After the fact, I started to second guess myself, since there are many mink and beaver in that creek, but no other mentions of otters that I could find.
Click to expand...
I buddy of mine sent me video he took of an otter in Valley Creek a few weeks ago. It was no doubt an otter, as it swam only feet away from him and offered a really good view of it.

I had forgotten about this video, or I would have mentioned it in my original post.
 
Last edited:
Otters are quite curious. I’ve had them swimming around me on the Susquehanna and Penns.
 
Could be, although I suspect it was a beaver. I've seen them down that way.

I was up in Maine this past week, and the river otter we saw was incredible. During an evening hatch, this thing came out of no where and ambushed unsuspecting LLS and brook trout. After picking off a fish, the bite was deader than a doornail.


mszoke1802 said:
I've seen evidence of beaver back in parts of Valley. lots of trees chewed down near Atwater
Click to expand...


VC beaver, near where the OP mentioned, June 2023:
1719332808625
 
There were some float tubers attacked by a river otter out in Montana last summer. That thing tore up the one lady's face badly. She said the attack was relentless, and thought she was going to die.
 
wildtrout2 said:
There were some float tubers attacked by a river otter out in Montana last summer. That thing tore up the one lady's face badly. She said the attack was relentless, and thought she was going to die.
Click to expand...

Great...

First I saw my life flash before my eyes when I saw a snapping turtle the size of a VW Beetle while float tubing at Hopewell Lake and now I have to worry about otters???

I think it's time to sell the float tube...
 
Bamboozle said:
Great...

First I saw my life flash before my eyes when I saw a snapping turtle the size of a VW Beetle while float tubing at Hopewell Lake and now I have to worry about otters???

I think it's time to sell the float tube...
Click to expand...
not just in the lake, I was walking along French Creek in phoenixville and found a monster of a snapping turtle. might think twice about wading that section now.
 
wildtrout2 said:
There were some float tubers attacked by a river otter out in Montana last summer. That thing tore up the one lady's face badly. She said the attack was relentless, and thought she was going to die.
Click to expand...
Yes, I'm sure they did nothing wrong and kept a safe distance just like they do for elk, moose and bison.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Montana Angler Fly Fishing
Montana Angler Fly Fishing
Harman's North Fork Cottages


Real Time Data From
the USGS Site

Share this page

Back
Top