Photo: Cheryl Reynolds
This is a river otter. Don’t get it confused with a sea otter. (I was talking about beavers at an event and a woman said, “ohhh i love beavers! I love when they lay on their backs and crack shells on their tummy.” Sigh)…..This amazing photo was taken yesterday by our own esteemed Cheryl Reynolds at the primary dam. Shhh don’t tell the beavers but it is very nearly my favorite she has taken so far. Looking at that face it is impossible to confuse this animal with a beaver. The whiskers, the wide nose, the stubby head, and the entire lack of chin, mark it distinctly. Well that and the fact that this little powerhouse sat atop the flow device eating fish all morning.
He was using the flow device as a water slide yesterday, going up and down the tube, which is pretty darn sweet, and worthy of a documentary on animal adaptions. Think about it, if an otter can go through a pipe, so can a salmon. Jon says otters go through lots of pipes at the powerplant cooling station, and even play with the “echo” while they’re inside, chirping and barking to eachother to hear it sound differently.
Several beaver fans turned out to watch otter delights yesterday. For the record, they couldn’t be more different from beavers. Otters seem to me to be little furry hedonists. They live entirely for pleasure. Whatever they do they relish with abandon, and whatever they dislike they don’t do. Otters play and love and quarrel passionately, they chew loudly like a two year old eating a favorite meal, they show up at strange hours and keep their own council. Bob Arnebeck says it isn’t even reasonable to ask questions like “how many fish do otters eat a day”, because their “day” is shifting and different than ours – 26 hours one day and 22 the next.. They eat when they feel like it, and move on from an area suddenly without saying goodbye — which our little fellow will do any day now, so go see him before its too late.
Also, check out the amazing and evolving entry on Flow Devices by our wonderful wikipedia friend. This is gonna save a LOT of beavers!
