Winter 2002 No. 15

Page 4

Mink versus Otter – No Contest

There was a time when the mink were blamed for the sudden decline of the otter population. That was before we began to realise that the real blame lay firmly at our own doorstep. A moments reflection on the comparative sizes of these two mustelids reveals just how unlikely this idea really was and there is now an increasing body of evidence to show that as the otter continues to make a comeback it is the mink that is now in decline. Kevin O’Hara, Northumbrian Otters and Rivers Project Officer, on a visit to the Isle Of Mull, witnessed what really happens when lutra lutra comes up against his American relative…

The silence of the bay was suddenly shattered by the sound of screams. Along with the rank smell of mink they seemed to be emanating from under a large boulder where bouncing around the outside was an otter, a very irate and angry one at that. This went on for quite a while, otter spitting his intent, mink squealing in fright until the mink stuck its nose out too far and it was over in the blink of an eye. Like a terrier with a rat the otter shook the mink violently and then began to chew on its head. It finished with a look of distaste and rolled several times on the mangled carcass before trotting to the nearby water for a wash and a stretch. Back again it came, shook the mink, threw it in the air and then swam away with it. After several minutes it seemed to lose interest in its victim and left it. The otter then mooched about catching small fish and resting for thirty minutes or so in the kelp. Moving up with the rising tide he then set off into the bay to do some serious fishing…’

Mink and otters have the same general body form and, at first glance, the most obvious difference is in their size. Male mink measure about 60cm from nose to tip of tail while both male and female otters are over a metre long when adult, nearly twice the length of mink. The disparity is even greater when weight is considered and in each sex the otter is close to ten times heavier than the mink. Even a large mink, weighing perhaps 1.6kg is very much lighter than a small female of 4-5kg.

Paul Chanin:
The Natural History Of Otters

Tarkaville

The origins of place names makes a fascinating story, one in which the otter has played its part. As might be expected many ‘otter’ place-names have a watery connection. There is the river Otter which rises at Otterford in Somerset and flows through Devon past Upottery, Mohuns Ottery, Ottery St Mary, Venn Ottery and Otterton to the Channel at Ottermouth. There is another Otter river in Hampshire and the Cornish river Ottery (Old English oter – es ‘otter river’) is a tributary of the Tamar. Otterbourne in Hampshire, and the two Otterburns in Northumberland and Yorkshire all mean ‘the stream frequented by otters’. There are Otterpools in both Kent and Lancashire.

Ottershaw (Surrey), Otterwood (Derbyshire) and Otter Copse (Northumberland) all have their origins in ‘wood frequented by otters’, Otterham in Cornwall and Otterhampton in Somerset are both settlements named after otters and in Dorset we have Otter Island in Poole Harbour (first recorded in 1774).

Many of these place-names are of Anglo-Saxon origin, dating back over a thousand years, and so they are the first historical records we have of otters in English landscape.

Two large bream, a frog in batter and one eel pie please. No chips and go easy on the salt and vinegar.

Thanks to Angela King for the photo (taken in Ottery St Mary).