The San Francisco Bay Area was once the home of the River Otter.....Decimated by hunting, trapping, pollution and alteration of habitat, these slinky swimmers were all but absent from the region by 1995............Restoration of Bay Area waterways now has the River Otter claing its way back into the river systems in this part of the world............Note that.River otters primarily eat fish............. They are also known to eat whatever is easiest to find, like crustaceans, mollusks, insects, birds, oysters, shellfish, crabs, crayfish, frogs, rodents, turtles and aquatic invertebrates...............The North American River Otter is the only river otter found north of Mexico........... Its luscious pelt, which is waterproof and allows the river otter to regulate its temperature, was also a staple of the French fur trade in the 1700-1800s, has drawn hunters for hundreds of years............. The color of its fur ranges from grey and white to brown and black

River otters making comeback in Bay Area

  kgo.com

 

MARIN COUNTY, Calif.  -- River otters had almost completely vanished from the Bay Area but now, they're making a comeback. Otters are turning up all the way from Sutro Baths in San Francisco to beyond Antioch in the delta. Still, there's a lot we don't know about them and citizen scientists are looking for answers.

 

Some volunteers recently went looking for otters at Rodeo Lagoon. 7 a.m. in the Marin Headlands is the perfect time for a family swim. "I've seen an otter every time I have been out here," Peter Barto of San Anselmo said. The river otters there need fresh water to survive. They do go in salt water, but don't confuse them with their cousins, sea otters who spend most of their lives in the ocean.

 link: The River Otter Ecology Project
  River otters used to live in just about every creek in the Bay Area but they disappeared. "Partially because of hunting and trapping, but also because a lot of our watersheds were in terrible disrepair and there was so much pollution," explained Megan Isadore. State Fish and Game maps of the known otter territory in 1995 show almost no otters in the Bay Area, but years of work to clean our waterways appear to be paying off. The otters are back.
"All the otters we see look really healthy and well-fed," Isadore said. She's a naturalist who helped launch the River Otter Ecology Project. "It turns out there is almost nothing known about their populations or their ranges." Isadore and other volunteers known as "otter spotters" are combing the Bay Area looking for evidence to add to local otter science. They take photos and videos which they post on their website. An interactive map on the site shows the locations of more than 150 otters spotted around the Bay Area in the last year.

 The Otter Ecology Project also set up motion-activated cameras to catch otters in action when people are not around during the day and at night.  River otters actually spend quite a bit of time on land. They are very social and they like to play a lot, but they are not always good at sharing. One volunteer caught video of an otter stealing a fish from his buddy. A word of caution: As cute as they are, these animals are fierce and have a strong bite so you should not get close to them. Even so, the people who do this kind of otter stalking get hooked.

"I can't help it. They are really cool," UC Berkeley biology researcher Collin Bode said laughingly. Hilary Magg is an otter-keeper at the San Francisco Zoo and Andrea Dougall works with otters at the Oakland Zoo. Even though they get paid to take care of otters in captivity, they still choose to spend their free time searching for wild otters. "This is exactly what I have been wanting to do and exactly what I am interested in, but I did not have the means or ability to do it on my own," Dougall said.
With a small amount of training, anyone can join the team. In addition to looking for actual otters, you search for clues indicating how the animals use their habitat. Otters have big webbed feet that leave distinctive tracks. "If you come closer and look, you can see a perfect little animal trail going up there," Isadore explained. "If you were able to be animal and scoot through this little hole and up the hill, you would find a whole warren of trails like this."

There are probably several different types of animals using that hillside, but the team can figure out whether otters are among them by looking for otter poop. "We found scat!" Magg exclaimed. "Ta-da, you get to pick it up," Isadore told her. The team collects otter poop for genetic analysis. They document where they found it and take photos. They've even got a name for this activity. "Pooparazzi," Bode said.

It's not always glamorous, but it's fun. Volunteers hope their research and the sight of healthy river otters living the good life will encourage people to protect them and their fragile habitat. The River Otter Ecology Project is looking for more otter spotters. Click here to learn more.

Written by Jennifer Olney
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Basic Facts About North American River Otters

by: Defenders of Wildlife

The North American River Otter is the only river otter found north of Mexico. Its luscious pelt, which is waterproof and allows the river otter to regulate its temperature, was also a staple of the French fur trade in the 1700-1800s, has drawn hunters for hundreds of years. The color of its fur ranges from grey and white to brown and black.

Diet

Did You Know?
River otters can stay underwater for up to eight minutes and can close their ears and nostrils to keep water out. They can also dive to a depth of 60 feet!

River otters primarily eat fish. They are also known to eat whatever is easiest to find, like crustaceans, mollusks, insects, birds, oysters, shellfish, crabs, crayfish, frogs, rodents, turtles and aquatic invertebrates.

Population

The population is unknown because the river otter is one of the hardest mammals to census but is estimated to be over 100,000 based on harvest reports.

Range

River otters can be found in streams, lakes, reservoirs, wetlands and along marine coasts in all states and territories of the United States and Canada. River otters are being reintroduced in the Rocky Mountain region to counter the population decrease in the 1800s.

Behavior

River otters live in all types of habitats. The only consistency with these habitats is accessible high quality water and an abundant food supply.

Did You Know?
Defenders of Wildlife is a member of the new Mexico River Otter Working Group, a broad-based coalition formed to implement a strategy to promote the restoration of the river otter to the rivers of New Mexico.

A river otter will only settle in a location with sufficient coverage, usually vegetation or physical structures, such as rock piles.

River otters are very playful animals and can very often be seen playing games. Social groups are typically made up of adult females and their pups. However, there are also groups of individual males. River otters are most active at night.

Reproduction

Mating season: December to April.
Gestation: 60-63 days following delayed implantation.
Litter Size: 2-3 pups.