Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Wildlife Management Otters?

Great video Tinylake! Thank You.

Have you ever caught two in one trap?

I havent gotten 2 in one yet...but its amazing what will put their head where they shouldnt.....

Early on a foggy Sunday morning a couple of weeks ago I saw three otters in our pond.

One otter grabbed one of our good sized albino catfish and the other two rushed to help.

My trapper buddy texted me this morning and stated it looks like we now have trapped 2 of the 3 thus far.

No more catfish for these two.

Merry Christmas to these two otters!

That warms my heart. I haven't seen anything in mine. Still watching...

I hope to have an additional picture soon. The trapper states "sometimes they will move on after a couple are dead in traps". I prefer DEAD over moving on.

Yesterday I think my wife and I found the dead albino catfish head on the shore.

My hatred for the river otters only grows.

My condolences on the albino. Yes, I feel the hatred for these animals as well. They devastated my perfect little ecosystem. They must die. The only thing saving them at the moment is time. I don't have much of that. I did buy a hydraulic sickle mower for my tractor. I got it knocked down today.

They will die but, I haven't seen any sign of them since.

Condolences from here too. Frustrating when you see prized fish parts strewn around the bank. Those remains represent a lot of time, effort, and money even ignoring all the dashed dreams of that perfect pond.

The challenge is maintaining the diligence to catch them before they do much damage. Too frequently, you don't see the damage until after they've moved on.

I like wildlife and think otters are interesting critters; but... I'm not sure why there was such an effort to reintroduce them into areas where they had been extirpated. I think they were wiped out for a reason and am not sure what, if any, benefit they bring in being reintroduced. Kind of like protecting the cormorants despite all the damage they do.

Good luck in protecting your pond / fish.

Yes the the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918 is outdated and needs to be updated. Of course anyone that would dare mention it on Capital Hill would be crucified as a bird hater. There are millions and millions of migratory birds on public waterways. They are doing quite well. In my opinion there should not be total protections for migratory birds on private ponds outside of city limits unless a particular bird is an endangered species.

This afternoon, I was sinking some x-mas trees and I saw my first otter. It looked like a juvenile. Popped up right in front of me and stared me down for about 10 seconds before disappearing.

Gonna have to send him to heaven I'm afraid.

Dang it!

Some juvenile otters may leave their family group at a fairly young age. However, many stay until the next litter.

I fear you may have more than one otter.

Having one otter is like having one cockroach, probably not realistic.

My pond is built over a drainage channel or small stream and there are lots of ponds sort-of connected to it, many of them quite large, on undeveloped land, or both. Lots of places it could have come from. Downstream a quarter mile or so there's a mud hole full of beavers and nutria.

The local raccoons are still pulling mussels out of the pond so I assume otters haven't been here long. Need to get him quick.

Got another one today right after sunrise.
First time I've have successfully shot one.


Within a few hours a Crested Caracara had found his otter dinner!

Mark, how many have y'all caught over the last several years?

Otters wiped out my catfish ponds several years ago, so many times that I quit stocking. Not worth the hassle, to me. There is a big otter sanctuary of over 200 acres about 5 river miles downstream from me. My ponds are about 500 yards off the river, and only about 300 feet from a feeder creek. There is now a hog wire fence between the creek and my ponds, but don't know if that does any good. I haven't seen otter sign at my ponds since about 2021 or so.

Heads up, for the next couple days Duke #220 body traps are on sale for $12/each with very modest shipping charge (not sure of the site policy here for links) at... a site that rhymes with bidwayusa... for $12/each.

Lance we usually trap 1-2 otter most years, maybe a couple of years none.
Trap a beaver every few years.
A creek connected to Lake Tawakoni runs along our property-line and it has water flow year around.

Hit a record this past weekend. All three traps had dead otters.

I wonder if the unusual Dallas cold, ice, snow was a factor or just a coincidence.

Nice job!

However, when you go 3-for-3, then I expect there are still more voracious fish eaters invading your pond.

Keep up the good fight.

Thanks FishinRod. The trapper says otters are really "on the move" right now in this area. He thinks these latest ones were coming in and got trapped, vs living here and got trapped. Who knows? He re-set all the traps and I will check them next weekend. These otters help keep Overton's Fisheries in business! lol

Mark, this is a 40" otter that I caught last year coming out of a beaver hut. The turtles chewed a little on him, but that's ok.

I wish we had turtles that were quick enough to chew on otters while they were still alive.

Of course, they would probably have to be some kind of ninja turtles to really control the otters.

Very nice AL

You caught a squatter-otter.

Beavers are not near as bad in my eyes.

I suppose otters like many other things in life are not "curable", they can only be managed.

The mutant teenage kind?

Well IBD,, just when you think you have a halfway handle on most of the problems mother nature can throw at a pond owner, you read about squatter otters, takes the anxiety up to a whole new level!