Update on River Otter Project
In May of 2009 a dead otter was found on West Shore Road in the Oyster Bay area. Unfortunately, I did not learn of this until recently, and the opportunity to gather valuable data from the carcass was lost.
Nathan Roberts at Cornell University has offered to archive tissue samples in addition to his necropsy work on otter carcasses from Long Island. Dave Mayack of NYSDEC has offered to analyze the tissue samples for environmental contaminants, as well as determine the age and DNA fingerprint of otters from this area. This information can be used to compare with existing data for otters from other regions of New York State.
Please help me spread the word about how to report otter sightings (information below), including dead otters found on roadsides or beaches.
Thanks for your help,
Mike Bottini
TO REPORT OTTER SIGHTINGS
Contact Mike Bottini [Phone: (631) 267-5228; e-mail: mike@peconic.org]
OTTER CARCASSES
River otters have a habit of exiting the stream, tidal creek or pond they are traveling in when they encounter an obstacle, such as a dam or narrow culvert. Many of these obstacles are associated with roads and, unfortunately, this situation sometimes results in otters getting hit and killed by motor vehicles.
If you should find an otter carcass, please contact Mike Bottini [631-267-5228 or mike@peconic.org] with the exact location of the otter. If possible, double bag the otter with plastic garbage bags and store it in a freezer until it can be picked up. These carcasses can provide valuable information.
Otter carcasses will be sent to Nathan Roberts at Cornell University where they will be examined for cause of death (if unknown) and sex. Various tissue samples will be taken and archived for future lab analyses by Dave Mayack of NYSDEC to determine the individual otter's age, DNA, and levels of various environmental contaminants that can be compared to levels found in otters elsewhere in New York State.
CONTACT INFORMATION
Mike Bottini / Long Island River Otter Project [Phone: (631) 267-5228; e-mail: mike@peconic.org]
Nathan Roberts / Cornell University [Phone: (607) 254-5478; e-mail: nmr25@cornell.edu]
Dave Mayack / NYSDEC Hale Creek Field Station [Ph: (518) 773-7318; e-mail: dtmayack@gw.dec.state.ny.us]
The original information about this project follows below.
An effort to establish the status and distribution of River Otters on Long Island, NY
Funded by the Baker Foundation and Land Marks
and
Sponsored by Peconic Baykeeper
We need your help!
Please report sightings or sign of River Otter to:
Mike Bottini
Phone: (631) 267-5228
E-mail: mike@peconic.org
The River Otter (Lontra canadensis) was once found in every state in the continental U.S. By 1900, trapping for its highly valued fur, the lack of conservation laws during the Fur Trade (1650-1850), water pollution, and habitat loss resulted in the extermination of the otter from many parts of its former range. Since the 1970s, 21 states have implemented re-introduction efforts. New York reintroduced otters to the Allegheny region in 1995. For information about that project, visit:
http://www.amnh.org/sciencebulletins/biobulletin/biobulletin/story835.html
Despite its common name, the River Otter inhabits lakes, ponds, swamps and marshes as well as rivers. It is also found in coastal areas, including the saline waters of tidal estuaries such as the Peconic and Gardiners Bays, Long Island Sound, and the Great South Bay. Unlike the Sea Otter found on the Pacific coast, saltwater reduces the insulative value of River Otter fur, and the latter species requires a freshwater rinse after fishing in the bay. Although considered an aquatic mammal with specific adaptations for swimming, River Otters spend 75% of their time on land.
The otter’s diet includes fish, shellfish, frogs, snakes, turtles, birds, large aquatic insects and the occasional muskrat, but fish comprise the bulk of their prey. Otters forage in shallow water, diving to depths of 50 feet but concentrating fishing efforts in water less than 10 feet deep, including intertidal and shoreline areas where they hunt on foot.
Females seek remote den sites to have their young in late winter and spring. The most commonly used dens are abandoned beaver lodges, of which there are none on Long Island. If there are breeding otters here, fox and woodchuck dens may serve as den sites.
Otters exhibit a remarkably long period of parental care. Pups remain in the den for 3-4 months, are fed by their mother for up to 9 months, and are taught fishing skills until 1.5 years of age. Sightings of three or more otters may be a family unit, and evidence of a breeding population.
River Otters on Long Island
The River Otter was once common on Long Island but, according to a report published in 1842, it was extirpated here by the early 1800s. It is not clear if that report was accurate, but otter have certainly been very rare on Long Island over the past two hundred years. Between 1875 and 1969, eight otters were trapped or shot on Long Island. Naturalist Roy Latham and others reported a handful of otter sightings from 1920-1957. These sightings as well as a few captured individuals were on the Peconic River (1920s and 1930s), Shelter Island (1920s, 1941 and 1955), and Lake Montauk (1925 and 1928).
The last survey of otters on Long Island was done by Paul Connor as part of a general survey of Long Island’s mammals over the years 1960-1963. No otters or otter sign were encountered at that time. In his report, Connor noted several reliable sightings of single otters made by others in the 1950’s on Shelter Island, the Peconic River, on the north shore of Nassau County, and at two locations on the Great South Bay. Connor surmised that these sightings were of individuals that had swum across Long Island Sound from Connecticut, which had a relatively large and healthy population of otters at that time.
In the years since Connor’s survey, a number of sightings, roadkills and trapped otters were reported. Trapped: one was caught in a fish trap in Montauk (1969), one was caught in a muskrat trap in Water Mill (early 1990s) and released on site, and one was caught in a box trap in Greenport (July 2001) and released in the Peconic River. Roadkills: one near Cold Spring Harbor (1990s), one in Brookhaven on Rte 347 near crystal Brook Hollow Road (April 1999), a mature female on Frost Mill Road near Shu Swamp in Oyster Bay (2004), a 25 pound otter on West Shore Road near Cleft Road in Oyster Bay (Feb. 2005), one in Islip (April 2005), and a male on CR 111 just south of the LIE in Manorville (Feb. 2006). Sightings: two otter pups in Beaver Lake, Oyster Bay (Nov. 1983); one in the Smithers Preserve, Southampton (May-June 1992), four different sightings of single otters at Mashomack Preserve, Shelter Island (1980s and 1990s), one near Swan Lake, Calverton (1990s), one in the Calverton Ponds Preserve (2003), and one in the Alewife Dreen near Big Fresh Pond, Southampton (June 2006).
The goal of this project is to document the population and distribution of River Otters on Long Island, which are currently unknown.
RIVER OTTER SIGHTINGS
The River Otter is a member of the Mustelid family with a characteristic weasel-like body (long and slim with short legs). Fully grown, it weighs 20 pounds and averages 3.5-4 feet in length, with its unusually-shaped tail being one-third of total length. Its short, dense fur is dark brown with a light-colored throat, and its feet are webbed.
It is difficult to confuse an otter on land with anything else. But in the water, relative body size and shape can be difficult to determine. Our most common aquatic mammal, the muskrat, is much smaller. Watch carefully and note how the animal is swimming. Does it stop and raise its head and shoulders above the water like a periscope (otter)? Is there vegetation trailing from its mouth (muskrat)? Is it taking a fairly direct route and staying at the surface (muskrat), or twisting and turning and disappearing below the surface (otter)?
River Otter "Periscoping" River Otter bounding on land
Muskrat Swimming
RIVER OTTER SIGN
River Otters are elusive and not easy to observe in the wild, therefore most surveys document their presence by finding and mapping their sign. Otter sign includes tracks, scat, other scent secretions, and slides. Tracking is a very useful survey technique in regions that have long periods of snow cover. Otter slides are much rarer than the popular literature would make them appear; the otter slides reported on the banks of the Carmans River were created by waterfowl climbing in and out of the water.
The Long Island River Otter Survey is relying on scat and other scent secretions left by otters. Otter scat is usually an unmistakable pile of fish scales and bones bound together with a sweet-smelling, blackish-green coating. Over time, weather and sun turns this into a loose pile of bleached scales and bones. They also secrete a very distinctive, yellow-white, jelly-like substance. Both are a means of communication among otters, and are often left near areas where otter must exit the water to get around a dam or other obstacle, or to travel overland to reach another pond or creek, and on points of land that jut into a waterway. Biologists refer to these as otter latrine sites.
OTTER SCAT: FISH SCALES, BONES AND CRAYFISH SHELL BITS BOUND BY DARKGREEN MATERIAL (LEFT); SUN-BLEACHED FISH BONES AND SCALES (RIGHT); WHITE JELLY-LIKE SECRETION (BELOW).
Otter scat can be analyzed in a lab to determine how many individual otters are using a particular latrine site, and to estimate the otter population of a particular region.
If you would like to make a tax-deductible contribution to this project, please send a check payable to
Peconic Baykeeper / River Otter Project and mail to:
Peconic Baykeeper
P.O. Box 893
Quogue, NY 11959
Thank you!
FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THIS PROJECT, VISIT THE WEBSITE: MIKEBOTTINI.COM