Otters have pouches under their forearms where they store their favorite rocks used for cracking shellfish open, and snacks for eating later or for bringing back to their dens.
375,000 NATIVE ANIMALS KILLED by One Program in 2023
The U.S. Department of Agriculture's notorious #WildlifeServices program just put out its required tally of #killings for last year: 375,045 native animals. The federal extermination program targets a long list of wild creatures, chiefly at the behest of #agricultural interests in states like #Texas, #Colorado and #Idaho.
According to the report — which almost surely understates the actual numbers —
with 14,314 killed in 2023 compared to 364,734 in 2019.
According to the new data, the wildlife-killing program unintentionally killed more than 2,484 animals in 2023, including 658 river #otters and 428 #turtles, as well as several dogs and cats. Its killing of nontarget birds included a federally protected #GoldenEagle, #WoodDucks, great #BlueHerons and #WildTurkeys. Such data reveals the indiscriminate nature of leghold #traps, #snares, #poisons and other methods used by federal agents.
"Caution Otters Crossing." The South Ford Causeway linking South Uist to Benbecula in the Western Isles. The 800m causeway was opened in 1982, replacing an 82 span single-lane concrete bridge built in 1942. More pics and info: https://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/benbecula/benbecula/index.html
Came across this lovely chap chomping away at a flatfish hidden in the seaweed - we are SO lucky to have Eurasian #Otters so close to #Inverness#Furry#Wildlife
#PPOD: Let's start the week with a significant otter discovery in otter space discoveries 😂. Hopefully, this will put a smile on your face this Monday! The images in question are of the Cosmic Cliffs in the Carina Nebula and detail the progression of observations from ground- to space-based telescopes and to the wonder of JWST. Credit: ESO, NASA/ESA/CSA, In Otter News
my favourite #goodNews story of the week cos it involves #otters :awesome: :blobheartraccoon:
"A great example of how saving one #species can have a domino effect on the restoration of a whole #ecosystem. In California’s Monterey Bay, efforts to bolster sea otter populations are saving local salt marshes because the otters feast on the burrowing crabs that cause erosion. The sea otters have consumed enough of the crabs to slow the #erosion almost to a halt."
#Otters in the Elkhorn Slough in coastal central California "don’t completely reverse erosion, but slow it down to natural levels.”
#OilBeach has a chapter on otters' life as a conserved "keystone" species on the coast. We don't have them in Southern California because of the massive infrastructural commitments around LA, but there are some efforts to regrow kelp here...
While biking this morning I finally, FINALLY got some okay video of the otters that live between Bothel and Woodinville on the Samamish river. Oh! and Happy Turkey Day ya'll. #otters#samamishriver#bothell#woodinville#wildlife
Sea Otters Have Helped Bolster California’s Kelp Forest (lighthouse-eco.co.za)
A study that looks back more than 100 years shows that where sea otters have thrived, underwater forests have, too
Hungry sea otters are helping save California’s marshlands from erosion (lighthouse-eco.co.za)
The return of sea otters and their voracious appetites has helped rescue a section of California marshland, a new study shows.