Phase I : Scotland

Otters & Other Things

One of the things we really wanted to see while in Kintyre was Otters. There's lots of birds around the farms hedgerows, and a large variety of sea birds. We saw wild deer - one came wandering into our car park at the cottages - and heaps of rabbits and so forth. But otters aren't so easily spotted.

Whe the opportunity came up to goto Gghia for a few days we thought our chance had come, and so it had. Asking around, we found that a few places on Gigha have otters, but one of the reliable ones is the South Pier, where they are said to run around the boats at night.

After getting feasted on by the midges one night, we tried again next day but even later - well after 10 o'clock and nearly dark. As we went quietly up the pier, we saw a "V" in the water heading out from the rocks, and sure enough it was Mr Otter heading out for a scavenge. We stayed silently on the pier for a while and in due course heard the crunching of otter teeth on something crunchy, presumably a crab or something. It was hard to see because they were wandering about down amongst the pier beams in the semi dark, but one swam out and around a couple of times, giving a clear view.

A fisherman appeared out of one of the boats and told us that they are really tame, and will eat fish from their hands. He tried one but they wouldn't come, and when he threw it on the pier afterwards it missd the beam and went in the water. We thought they'd eat it but he said they never take dead fish in the water. He also told us they are a nuisance to fishermen, running about the decks when they're trying to sleep.

posted by The Boemelaars @ 1:44 pm