Summer 2002 No. 13

Page 8

On the otter trail in West Dorset

Having had to sit in the car with my foot in plaster while Philip looked at the water vole evidence in the spring, I have enjoyed some recent farm ‘otter walks’. The first of these was at our West Dorset co-ordinator’s, Elizabeth James, at the end of April. We had a pleasant walk and it did not rain on us. The tea and cakes were excellent. We saw a fox and a deer but there were no signs of otters.

There were signs of otters on our West Dorset otter walk at Chedington a fortnight later led by Mike Lowing. I have been meaning to find the start of the Parrett Trail for several years but never got round to it. It was one of the younger members of the group who found spraint on a rock near one of the small pools (their eyes are nearer the ground than mine and even though I can now get my wellington boots on again I did not feel like clambering about too much). Again the company was good and Wynyards Gap provided a good place for a bit of refreshment and loos.

'There was some disagreement as to which way the otter had gone !’

Now I am going to take over some of her ‘bridge sites’ on the Char so I am more hopeful for this summer’s hunt. She did warn me that I will probably need wanders and a torch so I’m not quite so optimistic. The final outing was a visit with Philippa Fortescue to Tuckmill Farm, which is on the border of Dorset and Devon. The farmer’s wife has seen evidence of many different creatures coming to drink or in times of flood swim across the tributary of the Axe

which runs through their land. Heron and herring gulls take fish but she thinks there may be something else around now. Philippa once again found some elderly spraint further along after wading through the water (my excuse this time was the same as part two above!). She had found it at Broom Crossing on the Axe when I went with her a few years ago.

Anne Sankey

Otter Dot Com

A reminder that the Otter Group now has a website. Organised by group member Darren Fanner you can find it at

Http://www.DorsetOtterGroup.org.uk

The website includes information on otters, river ecology, surveying, volunteering and other features. Links to other otter groups are included and the latest otter distribution maps are available to view. Email Darren with any comments at

DarrenFanner@DorsetOtterGroup.org.uk

Contributions for the next Newsletter to:
Peter Irvine,
34 Bryanston Street,
Blandford,
Dorset
DT11 7AZ