Page: 1 2 3 4 5 6
sean29
Registered user
Global user
Registered: 01-2009
Posts: 19
Karma: -1 (+1/-2)
|
|
Reply | Quote
|
|
Re: Otter Predation at Willington Lake
At last andy you are saying somthing that I agre with you on,LOL. you have a good point. Maybe the club should look further into this maybe the otter people should of warned us all before the damage was done??? There must be guied lines to releasing anamals into the wild.
|
|
24/3/09, 19:42
|
Send Email to sean29
Send PM to sean29
|
andyk74
Registered user
Global user
Registered: 03-2007
Posts: 402
Karma: 2 (+5/-3)
|
|
Reply | Quote
|
|
Re: Otter Predation at Willington Lake
Thats got to be a first sean!!! 
Further to my earlier reply I found this snippet of info on google. . .
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/science--natural-home--or-ring-of-blighted-water-otters-are-being-returned-to-our-rivers-but-is-this-merely-condemning-them-to-death-in-a-polluted-environment-gail-vines-reports-1537755.html
The link will take you to the whole article, but here is one part of that article that proves what I was saying:
"...but although the Protection of Animals Act makes it illegal to abandon domesticated animals, there are no legal restrictions on releasing any native British species into the wild."
If you read the whole of this article it seems to me that the fellow that has been releasing them and sees no harm in doing so is very short sighted. He has not considered the effects they would have on fish stocks and reading what the vet said about the river Stort's pollution level and fish populations didn't even consider the otters welfare before setting them free.
What do others think??
Last edited by andyk74, 25/3/09, 12:37
|
|
25/3/09, 12:35
|
Send Email to andyk74
Send PM to andyk74
|
Pikechops
Registered user
Global user
Registered: 03-2009
Posts: 18
Karma: 2 (+2/-0)
|
|
Reply | Quote
|
|
Re: Otter Predation at Willington Lake
Having studied a couple of ecology modules at university I am not surprised by the article tbh! The ammount of introductions, re-introductions etc etc that have gone drastically wrong in the past is amazing. It seems not much thought goes into these things much of the time!!
|
|
25/3/09, 14:12
|
Send Email to Pikechops
Send PM to Pikechops
|
andyk74
Registered user
Global user
Registered: 03-2007
Posts: 402
Karma: 2 (+5/-3)
|
|
Reply | Quote
|
|
Re: Otter Predation at Willington Lake
That does seem to be the case here. The frightening thing is they re-introduce previously native animals into their former range without any thought for the ecosystem as it now stands. Would they do the same with wolves in Scotland?????? or bears???? They were once native to this country, somehow I would imagine there would be quite a large public outcry at that one!!!!
|
|
25/3/09, 14:37
|
Send Email to andyk74
Send PM to andyk74
|
bigrobbyault
Registered user
Global user
Registered: 04-2008
Posts: 22
Karma: 1 (+1/-0)
|
|
Reply | Quote
|
|
Re: Otter Predation at Willington Lake
do any of you guys know how the otters where nearly wiped out befor hand, was it hunting or did they just die of. also somone was telling me on the blunham lakes that are ment to be near to willington that they had a dog otter hunting in there lake and it was living on the island so they put something like one of them cat alarms things on it and the otter went obviously over in to willington
|
|
25/3/09, 19:18
|
Send Email to bigrobbyault
Send PM to bigrobbyault
|
andyk74
Registered user
Global user
Registered: 03-2007
Posts: 402
Karma: 2 (+5/-3)
|
|
Reply | Quote
|
|
Re: Otter Predation at Willington Lake
I think the reason for the otter demise that led to their virtual extinction in this country by the 1950's was due to a couple of things. One was hunting but hte biggest killer of otters was down to chemicals used on the farmland that got washed into the waterways. The two biggest ones were PCB's and DDT. They are long lived and do not break down quickly. They become more concentrated the higher up the food chain you get. For example there would only be small traces in fish such as minnows and roach, Perch, pike and zander would have higher concentrations as they would eat numerous minnows and roach. Otters being the apex predator in the river systems would have the highest concentrations of all, which led to them being killed off.
If you read the whole article from the link I posted earlier you will see that biologists state that PCB and DDT levels are only now, 50 years after their use has been banned, beginning to drop. That is one of the counter arguments for re-introducing otters back into previously contaminated rivers, when no study has been carried out to ascertain the current levels of these chemicals.
From discussions both with people on the bank, and discussions at the AGM this evening, items such as cat scarers only work for a limited time, until the otters get used to them. It is a possibility though, and cheaper and easier to install than an otter proof fence.
|
|
25/3/09, 23:44
|
Send Email to andyk74
Send PM to andyk74
|
andyk74
Registered user
Global user
Registered: 03-2007
Posts: 402
Karma: 2 (+5/-3)
|
|
Reply | Quote
|
|
Re: Otter Predation at Willington Lake
Also, further to that last post, another site states that a dog otters territory can be anything up to 13 miles along a river course, so although Blunham may have temporarily removed the otter from its lake, the chances are it will return sometime in the future.
Also a male otter can weigh up to 15kg ( 33 lb ) and reach a body length of up to 110 centimetres, plus a tail length of 45 centimetres. Having found this out, I am not so suprised that it is capable of taking a fish the size of Starburst or the big Common.
Last edited by andyk74, 26/3/09, 0:24
|
|
26/3/09, 0:04
|
Send Email to andyk74
Send PM to andyk74
|
Richard Bell
Registered user
Global user
Registered: 02-2007
Posts: 89
Karma: 4 (+5/-1)
|
|
Reply | Quote
|
|
Re: Otter Predation at Willington Lake
Much of what has been written about the otter is based on historic data before their demise and assumes they largely restrict their activities to rivers. Hence, the assumption by conservation groups that the return of otters equates with having a healthy river able to support their growing population.
Everyone (including anglers and conservationists) now realises that the otters have an abundant source of food provided in stillwater fisheries, located in close proximity to the rivers. Therefore, the river catchment areas are likely to be able to support even greater numbers of otters and the advice that a male otter's territory can extend over 40km may not hold true.
A link to the Otter Survey of Bedfordshire 2008/09 is now available on the main web site. I suggest everyone takes a good look at this report. There is also a link to an interactive Google map that shows the location of the survey sites along the Great Ouse, Ivel and Elstow Brook catchments.
|
|
26/3/09, 10:16
|
Send Email to Richard Bell
Send PM to Richard Bell
|
andyk74
Registered user
Global user
Registered: 03-2007
Posts: 402
Karma: 2 (+5/-3)
|
|
Reply | Quote
|
|
Re: Otter Predation at Willington Lake
Just looked at the google map from the link on the main page, its suprising and frightening how many positive signs of otters there are along the Ouse, Ivel and Elstow Brook courses. I also did not realise how many lakes there are around the Willington area. Plenty of hunting ground for the roving fish eater!
In this food rich environment the otters territorial range will be less than the 20km most websites quote as being typical for an adult dog otter.
I don't know how many of the lakes shown on Google maps are fished or how often. If many of them are not fished then hopefully the otter will spend most of its time on them where it will get disturbed less. Not an ideal solution for protecting Willington but better than nothing.
As it states in the article link I posted earlier, the return of the otter does not signify a healthy river if they have been released into that river by humans instead of by natural re-colonisation.
The biggest catch (excuse the pun) with this problem is that we just don't know. It is early days yet with evidence of only a few fish, albeit significant ones, being taken. No-one really knows the effects of otters in this new, stillwater rich environment but I don't think it will be good.
Legally, Sheffords and every other fishing clubs hands are tied with regards to trying to solve the problem.
|
|
26/3/09, 12:07
|
Send Email to andyk74
Send PM to andyk74
|
Pikechops
Registered user
Global user
Registered: 03-2009
Posts: 18
Karma: 2 (+2/-0)
|
|
Reply | Quote
|
|
Re: Otter Predation at Willington Lake
It is also interesting that the number of otter signs hasn't changed that much since 2003/4 yet the otter predation of specimen fish seems a relatively recent occurance. I guess signs of otter doesn't equal number of otters though!
|
|
26/3/09, 18:40
|
Send Email to Pikechops
Send PM to Pikechops
|
Add a reply
Page: 1 2 3 4 5 6
Link to us
- Blogs
- Hall of Honour
- Chat
|
You are not logged in (login)
Board's time is: 26/11/09, 13:43
|
|
|
