The Otter

There are some afternoons when I have to get out of the house and just sit on the swing by the pond. I am lucky enough to have watched ducks swim around fairly closely and this week I was a bit unnerved by the red tail hawks mating season. My mother informed me why they were making such a fuss...guess she finally told me about the birds and the bees.

But it seems all the really neat stuff happens while I stand in my office, staring out the window through binoculars. Just the other day I was standing up for a minute and looked out at the pond and saw a head swimming across it. Great, I thought, another pesky beaver going to chew down some more trees. But then something a little odd happened. It dove down into the water in a very odd fashion. I didn't see his wide tail either. I grabbed the binoculars and followed the the little air bubbles here and there. It's head surfaced again and then back down. More air bubbles. That was not a beaver. Then it came up again and had a fish. He laid back almost floating supine while munching on his catch; it must have been a very chewy fish, it looked almost like work to eat it.

The way he swam on his back made it official...an otter. There was an otter dining in my pond. I am not sure how long I stood there watching through those binoculars, but it was not long enough.

I just hope next time I can sneak down to the swing and watch him through my own eyes! Nonetheless, it was amazing.