Not just the coyotes are getting bold

 

Photo by Breck Haining

Photographer Breck Haining says, 

"I occasionally see River Otters by Log Boom Park in Kenmore, but usually when I do see them I do not have my camera. Yesterday I was birding by the marina which connects to Log Boom Park.  I happened to see a River Otter swimming near the shore. It later climbed up on a dock where I was able to take a good photo of it."

I find this astonishing. The first time I was told about river otters, in Echo Lake, no one had a clue what they were. It took several months and a children's book to identify the mystery critters as otters. 

It was several years before I got my first photo of an otter, taken by Martin DeGrazia at Ronald Bog. And it was several years after that before they started regularly posing for Martin.

I now know that they are in every lake, bog, and stream around us. But they have always been shy and elusive, even while they were stealing your prize koi.

With the pandemic and people staying in their homes, the coyotes started coming out in the daylight. I lived here for 20 years before I even knew that we had coyotes. Now I get reports weekly of coyotes boldly walking through yards and streets in the daylight.

Now the otters are coming out. They are far more benign that coyotes, but it's strange to see this one fully out of the water, staring down the photographer.

Warning: we also have raccoons, weasels, opossums, and bobcats.  I wonder if they will be next to come into the daylight?

--Diane Hettrick