Otter in valley forge ?!

[nimrod]

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.

Saw some otters in Trout Lake in Yellowstone a few years back swimming smoothly and minding their own business. Then when floating the Ruby we must have gone by a mother and pups. I've never heard such growling and snarling and was glad we were moving along at the time and she decided not to attack. Hanging around to take pictures would not have been a good idea.

 

[Prospector]

Otters are protected in PA. That may change when populations get higher.

There are still people trapping a lot of beaver in PA. I've seen them posts photos of their catches and some of them are taking big numbers. I suspect that beaver numbers in "Big Woods Country" is suppressed well below their normal level because of over-harvest, and that this suppresses brook trout populations.

Actually 7 of the 23 Wildlife Mgmt Units in PA have an otter season. It’s an 8 day trapping season with season limit of one. I buy a tag every year but haven’t pursued them yet. My neighbor caught 2 this past year. One in otter season and another while beaver trapping. When a mistake catch is made you have to call the Game Commission to release it.

 

[Dabandfly96]

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..

UPDATE: I saw it again today and can absolutely confirm it was an otter. Same exact spot. This time it was on the opposite bank hanging out until I stepped into the water. Then it barreled away into the deeper section. It happened so fast I couldn’t get a picture, but I can absolutely confirm it was an otter and not a beaver or mink.

 

[Dabandfly96]

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.

UPDATE: I saw it again today and can absolutely confirm it was an otter. Same exact spot. This time it was on the opposite bank hanging out until I stepped into the water. Then it barreled away into the deeper section. It happened so fast I couldn’t get a picture, but I can absolutely confirm it was an otter and not a beaver or mink.

 

[Dabandfly96]

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.

UPDATE: I saw it again today and can absolutely confirm it was an otter. Same exact spot. This time it was on the opposite bank hanging out until I stepped into the water. Then it barreled away into the deeper section. It happened so fast I couldn’t get a picture, but I can absolutely confirm it was an otter and not a beaver or mink.

 

[tomgamber]

UPDATE: I saw it again today and can absolutely confirm it was an otter. Same exact spot. This time it was on the opposite bank hanging out until I stepped into the water. Then it barreled away into the deeper section. It happened so fast I couldn’t get a picture, but I can absolutely confirm it was an otter and not a beaver or mink.

And it didn't attack and kill you.