Otter

[shootnfish]

Whitebridges.. I know you can get a licence for shooting cormorants im just saying thy proberbly do more damage to smaller fish stocks than otters just down the road from me on the river chelmer there's a dozen or so cormorants taken up permanent residence , mink are pretty good fishermen to, Not all fences have to look like a prison fence, you don't have to have a fence round a garden pond either you can make a frame with mesh going over the pond. What's more important the way it looks or the fish in it.

Edited January 10, 2014 by shootnfish

[TW1990]

hmmm what ever people's views of an Otter are, they are very common now. Seen 4 since the start of December(helps living next to the river Otter). How ever most have been born and raised in sanctuaries then released into habitats that cannot sustain such an apex predator. therefore carp lakes and duck become easy pickings for them, mind you its not just vermin as somebody quoted. The RSPB are beginning to get there feathers ruffled by the presence of so many otters

[DRWC]

Not such a breathtaking experience when you see one working the same pools that you're trying to fish for salmon from, every single day for a week. Especially when you've been looking forward to that week all year, and travelled 600 miles to be there. I'd happily live my life without seeing the wretched thing if it meant I'd have had better fishing...although it's always handy to have an excuse for a blank day!

Edited January 17, 2014 by DRWC

[kingo15]

DSC_1632 by MDK photography UK, on Flickr

 

Saw this on the river Tove near Roade, Northants.

 

Where do we stop with trying to repopulate species that are dwindling out, but we seem just to over populate them like with the red kites and buzzards now esp in this area. So much has the population increased they are now constantly over housing estates looking for food.

 

Just seems to go from one extreme to the next

[Scotty carptart]

I do alot of carp fishing around Norfolk and a few years ago I was fishing a lake where 2 otters were living. Also on the lake was a pair of swans that had just brought off 5 cygnets . One quiet summers night all hell broke loose out the lake , i was unsure what was going on as it was dark but i could here the swans hissing and alot of thrashing about in the water , after an hour every thing calmed down and the next morning myself and another member counted 4 dead cygnets laying ontop of the weed out in the lake . We were gob smacked then out of the corner of my eye I saw one of the otters swim along the far margin holding the 5th cygnet. Its well known that otters will kill for sport which is obviously what happened to the cygnets .

 

Every animal has a right to be in its natural environment , as hunters we must respect that but if you owned a carp fishery and had an otter present how many of you wouldn't do something about it ?

If you had a fox after your chickens half of pigeon watch would be reaching for the gun !!

[kingo15]

Yeah once the fox numbers have reached an all time low no doubt people wont be allowed to hunt them. No doubt when the otter breeding reaches too many numbers people will be allowed to hunt them again.