SpoonDuck

I’ve been out to the DM river and found a family of river otters. Then today at a local marsh I found another group of 3-4 in Story county. These are the first times I’ve came across them in the wild in 40 years. They are very fun to watch.

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nobands

I saw my first several years ago.
Must have been a family of 4 .they had a lot of fun frolicking around .
Sometimes its the site like this that make a memorable day

River Mallard

Shoot them all. They are no good for our river systems. As I own ground on the river and a pond. Nothing worse than otters coming in and wiping out your fish population.

oldtimer

SIR, YOU ARE CORRECT! except for saying shoot them all, Trap them legally.
But your statement on destroying river fish in area they live is 100% correct!
Yes, I also own stretch of water they destroyed....but they are not around,except maybe a male that is searching once in awhile

River Mallard

Yes. ummmm I mean trap legally.

Coldfronts

River wolves.....

Mallard Creek

Fun to watch.
Hard on habitat.
They catch take one bite, maybe two. Drop that fish and go catch another.
They do seem to cover quite a bit a territory.

drunkenpoacher

And don't forget the pelicans, cormorants and herons.

81isu00

Had a family of 5 otters cross an icy Brushy Creek on the north end of that lake a couple years ago, and came right at me as I was hidden during a duck hunt. I stood up and said, "Boo!", and off they rushed barking away. I agree that with their introduction they have changed local river sections for the worse. In the Skunk River north of Ames they have put themselves in control of the smallie population. They eat them in the fall, then finish them off as the fish are captive in smaller pools. The number of mid sized and larger fish seems to be on the downhill, even with adequate water summers and winters.