Beautful Danger

The otters were by today.  These otters are resident: they move back and forth  from the big lakes south of us, up our channel to where it widens into a huge, shallow marsh to the north.  They are river otters- sleek, brown as a Hershey bar, graceful.  They're charming to watch as they play in the water, and they do play.  Diving, looping, slipping up onto the shore to run with incredible, agile speed, then without a splash, smooth as silk back into the water.  Sometimes there's just a bubble trail in the water as they move along, submerged, hunting for food.  Then up pops a brown furry head and two paws, grasping a snack which could be a small fish or crustacean.  They eat with apparent great enjoyment, crunching away comically,  like someone eating a cookie with both hands. 

But there's a darker side to the otters' visits this time of year.  Some of their favorite foods are duck eggs  and young ducklings.  As far as the otter is concerned, a duckling is no different than a small fish.  Food is food.  For us watching the mother duck in a panic, quickly herding her brood to where ever she determines is safe- that's hard.  She can't out-swim an otter.  Her ducklings are much too young to fly, and although they can move with stunning speed for their size, they can't out-swim an otter.   Usually the otter is happy with one duckling, but otters have very good memories for locating food.  If they're successful, they'll remember. This is why we watch duckling broods of twelve and more shrink and shrink.  As I've mentioned before, raccoons and larger birds also predate duck nests.   Somehow, though, there always seems to enough mallards to go around every year.  But it's tough to watch.

Sometimes the otters do strike out.  If the  hen has her ducklings tucked away in tall grasses before the otters happen by, the otters may not pick up the faint scent.  I hold my breath and watch them circling our pond, heads up, alert, noses carefully sifting scent. They seem to be impatient hunters though, maybe because the food supply is pretty abundant this time of year.  A few moments spent looking, sniffing, and they  usually dive for what can be found underwater.  Then satisfied, they go, leaving silent ripples on the smooth water, and a safe brood of ducklings for now.