Reprinted from an April 8, 2007 column in the Morgantown Dominion Post
Several weeks ago I wrote about the sightings of bald eagles at Cheat Lake. Now my friends Kathy Zimmerman and Gary Cobun tell me about river otters. They were canoeing at the upper end of Cheat Lake and spotted a pair of large mink-like looking animals on the shoreline. After talking to them a bit, I concluded they saw river otters. No doubt in my mind.
Otters are members of the weasel family, as are mink. But the otter is much larger than mink and can weigh up to 25 pounds. River otters used to be plentiful throughout the country, but by the early 1900's unregulated trapping and stream pollution eliminated them otters in much of it’s former range. Here in West Virginia acid mine water made otter recovery almost impossible for many years.
Then water quality improved and streams came alive with fish, crayfish, and other shellfish. In happened here in West Virginia, and also in other states. Thus, conditions were ripe for the reintroduction of river otters. In 1982 an otter release program began in Pennsylvania with 153 otters brought in. That same year Missouri started their program and released 845 otters over a ten year period. We started the same translocations in 1984. Over the next 13 years the WV DNR released 245 otters into 14 rivers in our state. Although West Virginia was one of the first states to bring back the otter, 20 others have also done so.
In warmer months otters eat lots of crayfish, shellfish, and fish. A study on food habits in Missouri showed otters eating crayfish (60% of their diet) and fish (40%) in summer. In the winter when crayfish burrow into the mud, otters eat fish.
Bringing back river otters from the brink of extinction seems like a good thing, but in Missouri it didn’t please everyone. By 1999 they had an estimated 18,000 otters, and cat fish farmers, farm pond owners, and bass fishermen, were upset. I remember in the mid 1990's going to a conference and hearing a paper on the damage otters were doing to Missouri farm ponds (and there are 300,000 such ponds in Missouri). Otters would travel over land to a farm pond, spend a few days there and decimate the fish, before moving on to the next pond. They left upset people in their path.
They also consumed huge numbers of smallmouth bass in the headwaters of rivers. Seems that otters also take an inordinate number of larger bass rather than smaller ones, further infuriating fishermen. Complaints sky rocketed so the game department there proposed a trapping season for otters. Of course animal rightists resisted bitterly, but after various court battles a two month season was held in 1996 and 1,000 animals were taken. The animals rightists claimed that trapping otters would decimate the population, but even though 1,000 animals were taken each year from 1996-2000, otter numbers climbed to 18,000.
Missouri then went to an adaptive management strategy where more otters were trapped in higher damage areas and the number of trapped otters increased by one-third.
How do we determine otter numbers? One way is to look for areas along the shoreline of rivers where they defecate. These "latrines" are found where there is beaver sign, near vertical banks and large rock formations and in backwaters. They breed in the spring and one can see "mud slides" where the females advertize their presence to males. The gestation period is about a year ( because the females hold the fertilized ovum, before it attaches to her uterine walls). Once the ovum attaches it takes only two months for the birth to occur.
The females will move into small, out-of-the way streams to give birth, and are separated from the males. The actual birth may take place in an old beaver house, or a small water cavity in roots or among rocks. Most births occur in March and April and litter sizes are two or three. The young can be seen with the mother for eight months and family groups may stay together for a year.
The best time to spot otters is early in the morning or early evening. If you see an otter in West Virginia, email the Furbearer Program Coordinator, Richard Rogers, at rerogers@citlink.net and report the location and date. He compiles data to help determine the health of our new, otter population.
Clean water has brought fish back to Cheat Lake. Not only do our fishermen appreciate that, but it seems that bald eagles and river otters do as well. There is no question, having bald eagles and river otters back in our area waters is good for West Virginia, and good for Morgantown.
