The Twin Lakes here in Federal Way, have had a resident pair of River Otters
for a number of years until very recently. My last sighting of three was
earlier this spring. Last Fall, I had an otter in the drainpipe, trying to
get back into the lake while I was birding from the grate above, Every time
it saw me, I was subjected to some nasty otter profanity! I have never been
called those names before! I finally moved off the grate. From what
everybody is describing, I certainly see no reason, why a resourceful animal
such as a River Otter, could not find its way into Green Lake! Green Lake
certainly is much larger then the Twin Lakes combined and probably could
support 2-3 otter families.

Hans Feddern
Twin Lakes/Federal Way, WA.

On Wed, Aug 19, 2009 at 1:37 PM, Kevin Purcell <kevinpurcell at pobox.com>wrote:

> Very interesting report!
>
> On Aug 18, 2009, at 5:41 PM, Richard Fleming wrote:
>
> At dusk on May 8, 2008, my wife and I saw a mature river otter hauled out
>> on the "turtle" log off the NW shore of Green Lake. It went into the water,
>> caught a large carp, returning to the log. Seeing several people on shore
>> watching, it went into the water and went elsewhere to eat the carp. The
>> next morning I phone the zoo to see if they were missing an otter. They
>> said no. WDFW had no reports of otter in Green Lake but thought it
>> possible. There were other observations of an otter over several days, then
>> it was gone. Earlier this spring the otter was reported again. About two
>> weeks ago, there were several reliable observations of an otter. There are
>> otters in Union Bay. The question at hand is how do they get to Green Lake
>> for their visits? Up Ravenna Creek from Union Bay, thence the Green Lake
>> drain to the lake? Thumbing a ride up Stone Way.? The mystery remains.
>> Otters are good travelers, but one does not think of them moving along city
>> streets.
>>
>
>
> Squinting very closely at the GAP distribution map for the River otter the
> GAP distribution shows it potentially along the Cut and there is a Green
> Lake/Woodland Park sized blob to the north of that. It has connected water
> and trees, I guess.
>
> <http://wdfw.wa.gov/wlm/gap/gapdata/mammals/gifs/luca.gif>
>
> As they describe their minimum habitat block as 1 hectare (100m x 100m ...
> "about the size of Green Lake" they say on their home page) then there is
> (was in 1997) potential habitat all along the Cut and around Woodland Park.
>
> How they're getting there is an interesting puzzle. Via a water way like
> Ravenna/Piper Creek seems most likley but even then there is a long dry walk
> down the grassy divide along Ravenna Blvd to get to Green Lake. Have River
> Otters (or their sign) been observed in Ravenna/Piper Creek? Or perhaps
> Thornton Creek?
>
> Another possibility is via a linear connected "habitat" like Hwy 99 to the
> Cut. The 99 corridor is the closest direct link to otter habitat. That link
> is continuous from the Cut to the SW portion of the park: about 1.3 mile
> from where 99 "touches down" north of the lake to the SW corner of the Park.
> I can't believe they're very good climbers so bouncing through back gardens
> like a raccoon doesn't seem likely.
>
> If I was betting I'd think I'd prefer the creek route.
>
> If they are staying at the lake then they need a holt. I can't all the
> observers missing a holt at the edge of the lake but if one isn't looking
> carefully one can miss it especially if it has an underwater exit. And it
> doesn't need to be directly on the lake. Perhaps that needs a closer look.
> Another possibility is the holt may be on Duck Island away from humans? It
> seems like the only "natural" (unmanaged?) area good enough for this.
>
> So the question is are they visiting? Or are they staying? And how many of
> them are there? I say them but is this a single individual?
>
> Another consideration (for the adventurous) might be to consider creating
> an artificial otter holt at Green Lake or along the Ravenna Creek and
> Thornton Creek to encourage this species.
>
> Plenty of ideas to follow up on for the Green Lake or Ravenna/Piper Creek
> nature watcher.
> --
> Kevin Purcell
> kevinpurcell at pobox.com
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Tweeters mailing list
> Tweeters at u.washington.edu
> http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://mailman1.u.washington.edu/pipermail/tweeters/attachments/20090819/331920f6/attachment.htm