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Posted by Jeff Weber on 12:59:00 04/22/06
While kayaking this morning at Matheson Hammock, I discovered a new branch of my favorite tidal creek, the one just south of the Wading Beach by the James Ingraham memorial marker. Despite a brisk onshore wind, it was mighty quiet and still up this creek, with none of the typical night herons and egrets (Odd, I thought). Being way up in there where you can't turn around always gets me to thinking about monster crocodiles and how I'd react if I ran into one. Well, I was just musing in this fashion when I saw a strong V-wake coming toward me around a tight bend. Expecting a scaly snout to emerge momentarily, I was surprised when a big River Otter popped up its head and neck and regarded me with similar surprise for about 10 seconds before doing a fast dive, its conical tail slapping the water. (Of course, this would be the day I decided to leave my camera at home.)
I have never seen an otter in salt water before, and certainly didn't expect to at Matheson. If anyone else has seen this big Mustelid in a marine environment, I'd like to hear about it.
A couple of weeks ago, I was up that same creek system and saw a large Mangrove Salt March Snake (Nerodia clarkii compressicauda) swimming across the channel. I don't know if an otter would tackle one of these, but I bet it would be a heck of a battle if one did.
Oh -- since this is a Bird Board -- there were lots of Spotted Sandpipers way up in the Red Mangroves, and there was a single Chimney Swift over the parking lot. Warbler activity was pretty much nil in the picnic area.
As this was a life otter for me in salt water, I celebrated with a refreshing Beck's Beer, Germany largest-selling import.
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