Tweets,
Several years ago a river otter is said to have killed one of the resident
swans at the Bloedel Reserve on Bainbridge Island.
Gene Bullock
Poulsbo WA
----- Original Message -----
From: "Stewart Wechsler" <ecostewart at quidnunc.net>
To: "AMY DAVID SHUMANN" <daccshumann at msn.com>; <tweeters at u.washington.edu>
Sent: Monday, February 05, 2007 1:46 PM
Subject: RE: [Tweeters] coot-eating otter


> While it's only a guess, I'd bet that the odds are that the otter found
> the
> coot injured or dead, rather than having caught and killed a healthy
> coot.
> But as a mustelid - a member of the weasel family, famed for their ability
> to kill prey that is relatively large for the size of the predator, I
> could
> imagine it is within the realm of possibility that it caught a healthy
> coot
> off guard and killed it. But no, before this I don't remember reports of
> River Otters eating birds. It does though bring to mind the image from
> this
> past fall of an otter that was eating spawned out Chum salmon in Piper's
> Creek at Carkeek park, so they do eat relatively large dead animals.
>
> Stewart Wechsler
> Ecological Consulting
> West Seattle
> 206 932-7225
> ecostewart at quidnunc.net
>
> -Advice on the most site-appropriate native plants
> and how to enhance habitat for the maximum diversity
> of plants and animals
> -Educational programs, nature walks and field trips
> -Botanical Surveys
> .
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: AMY DAVID SHUMANN [mailto:daccshumann at msn.com]
> Sent: Monday, February 05, 2007 10:03 AM
> To: tweeters at u.washington.edu
> Subject: [Tweeters] coot-eating otter
>
>
> Hi Tweets, a friend reported that she recently saw an otter in Lake
> Washington eating a coot. She said it was eating the coot while floating
> on
> it's back in the water - just the way she'd seen otters eating shellfish.
> I
> have never heard of otters eating birds. Anyone else?
>
> Amy
> Seattle
> daccshumann at metrokc.gov
>
>
>
>
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