To meet the otter in its den

March 22nd 2021

Sivu, Hanumanth and I have been on the river for a couple of hours, when we spot the den.  Sivu, of course, spots is first and we row close to get a look.

It looks like a hut from a distance, but that is a fallen tree, its large root system acting as the perfect entrance to an otter holt.

We approach with caution, for, if there are otters, we would be intruding.  There are no sounds, no soft splashes.

Otters - smooth-coated otters - away at work.  From earlier surveys - done in 2019 and 2020 - we know that there should be a pack around there.  In both years, at least three individual otters were sighted in this stretch of the river, with the 2019 sighting being close to this holt.  We scan the soft mud in the holt and see wet signs leading in, so this is an active den, that is, at once, exciting!  I call such holts  'wet dens'.

As we row away the rest of the tree comes into view, as indeed does a second interesting entrance (circled in the picture).  

Just how do otters choose the locations for their dens?  It is fascinating to speculate on what they find suitable (and what is not).  This is hardly secluded, for it abuts an agricultural field.  We are at the den around nine in the morning and there is no one on land nearby, yet during the day, surely there must be people about?  

The coracle allows a mind to wander and speculate, for it is a slow journey.

We do not see otters on this recce, but I do hop onto a couple of islands looking for holts or sand-rolling spots and this one here is a small little island that overlooks the not-so-busy bridge: a sentinel island, perhaps?

We head back with a tinge of dissatisfaction.  And worry, for there has been regular dynamiting for fish in the river.  In this short recce - 5 km upstream and back - we have seen three dead fish floating, this one being about three kilos (another was double this size).  Those who use dynamite harvest what they can, but might miss fish that floats up further downstream - these then float down the river and rot.  It is likely - very probable indeed - that a number of smaller fish that were floating down the river were missed by us.  

Dynamiting is awful, a crime against the river, fish, biodiversity and otters and, yet, fishers are being driven to it.  At times by others, often by the desperation for survival.  The Cauvery is a river in deep trouble and I wonder if the otters are telling us something.  Even if they are out at work?