No Chainsaw Needed

There are beavers in north Florida/south Georgia but we don't have them this far south. Joe's article on beavers got me thinking about the problem critter we have in Florida. What destructive critter we do have is called an otter. I don't have a problem with any animal eating to survive but when I see nice Largemouth Bass laying on the banks with one bite taken out of the bellies, it makes me sick. So the otter may return to finish the meal but more often than not, that is not the case unfortunately. It is illegal to trap or shoot otters in Florida but that does not deter landowners from protecting their prime fisheries it seems. Some taking great pains to grow prize LMB in their waters. I have known such landowners. Fencing or covers in a fishery may work for small waters but not larger ones and it is an expensive endeavor. Trapping by permit and relocating usually just gives the trapped otter to another unfortunate landowner in the long run. By the time a permit to shoot is obtained (if it is even possible to get one), the otters have already done their work on the fishery, the same for a trapping permit. So landowners shoot otters covertly. Gators do control such critters as beavers and otters to a certain degree but such critters have learned to avoid the gators for the most part while living along side them in Florida waters it seems. A free-ranging family of otters can wipe out a prime fishery in a short period of time. I have seen it. When one fishery is destroyed, they move on to another one. Otters don't care about maintaining fisheries like humans do so such fisheries have to be artificially restocked after the otters have done their work or the fishery just takes many years before it can fully recover. This starts the cycle all over again by continuing to inadvertently feed the otters. I don't like the idea of killing anything including otters or beavers but it seems there is no real solution either for controlling otters here. With an ever increasing human population in Florida, the otters are on the short end of the stick so its no wonder they are protected by law. A law many landowners ignore to protect their prized fisheries. An ongoing, complex, and perplexing problem. Thanks for the article, Joe.

http://myfwc.com/CRITTERS/RiverOtter.htm

Hmmm...interesting.

I'm curious whether any studies have ever been done that might shed light on the SIZE of fish that the river otter prefers to attack and eat.

Before I retired, one of the many hats I wore in my job was I was the Integrated Pest Management specialist at the Federal Building in Kansas City, MO. The way I solved pest problems with IPM was to first identify the species of pest involved in the complaint, then research the creature's ecological needs, then take steps to physically remove critical resources that allowed it to continue entering the building, or breeding/living inside and/or around it.

The Integrated Pest Management approach is far more "lethal" in terms of solving any pest problem long-term. Take cockroaches, for example. With old-style pest control methods (beer-gut Bubba with a pump can spraying the baseboards) all Bubba is doing is mindlessly throwing dangerous poisons into YOUR living environment. Beer-gut Bubba is attacking only the SYMPTOM of the problem (and perhaps not so mindless, because he has signed you up for a very expensive, never-ending monthly treatment plan).

But Bubba with his pump can is not correcting the fundamental cause of the problem. He is not resolving issues such as closing off entry points, sealing off interior harbor and breeding sites; Bubba is not recommending that you alter your housekeeping practices to deny the insect access to food and liquids 24/7.

There's a rule in nature: If there's anything to eat, something will come along and eat it. Might be nothing more sizeable but bacteria or fungii, but in nature fiood rarely goes wasted.

It could be that big largemouth bass are the easiest prey item for river otters to catch. (Easier than juvenile bass that find it easier to conceal themselves in cover.) Thus by deliberately managing a pond so that it produces huge trophy largemouth, landowners are unwittingly setting the table for a Thanksgiving Dinner visit by river otters.

IF it is true that otters prefer trophy-size bass for food, to the point where the otter seldom visits (and does not negatively impact) ponds containing smaller fish, then one solution is for Florida landowners to shift their focus away from growing lunker largemouth bass. Deny the otters their preferred food item by managing the ponds for panfish species.

With IPM you do not concern yourself so much with killing the pest in question. You look at ending its presence permanently *in your own immediate environment*. So in the hypothetical scenario I've described, managing a pond for panfish doesn't kill the otter. It frustrates the otter, forcing it to MOVE ELSEWHERE in search of those big fish it needs to survive. You don't care where the otter goes, just so it leaves your pond alone.

But if applied, a solution such as this requires the pond owner give up his or her emotional (or financial) need for raising trophy largemouth bass. Good luck on that.

Ahh...the increased human population of Florida. Tell me about it. My ex-wife's kin live down there, so I used to visit your state almost annually. I love that big highway sign somebody once put up along the Interstate, intended for north-bound motorists.

"Leaving Florida? Take a friend!"


Joe
"Better small than not at all."

Many different animals are blamed for perceived declines in fisheries, this is usually not the case. Here is what a few states DNR's have to say about river otters (these are the people who promote fisheries)

"Otters are opportunistic and will take foods that are most available. The most available fish tend to be the slower-swimming species and those that are most abundant. Although anglers are sometimes concerned that otters will have a detrimental effect on game fish, the fishing activity of otters has not been found to be a problem with sport fisheries. Food-habit studies have generally found game fish to be taken less often than the slower-swimming rough fish. Several authors suggest that otters may even improve a fishery by removing rough fish.
Otters have occasionally caused depredation problems at fish hatcheries and rearing areas. There, only game fish at artificially high densities are present, and the fish cannot escape capture Nebraska Game and Parks

They are a boon to fishermen and prey primarily on non-game fish especially slow moving fish, bottom dwelling rough fish, and secondarily on fish in abundance or in large schools. Crayfish are also important in the diet. Virginia Fish and Wildlife

A quick google search will show a number of studies that show otters feeding primarily on carp and suckers. In my experience, the lakes here in Minnesota that haqve otters usually have better fishing than those without. Come to think of it the lakes with otters are happen to be the ones without very many people.

Kevin

There are otters here in western Colroado as well. The lower Dolores river, which I fish on occasion has a family of four or five of them that patrol all eleven miles of quality trout water. I have, in the dozens of times I have watched them, NEVER seen them catch and eat a large trout. They feed primarily on crawdads, it appears, although I have seen them with a small fish now and then. I have never seen a large fish carcass on the bank with otter bite marks on it (the coons and eagles would clean it up rapidly).

A dead largemouth on the bank with one bite out of it is not necessarily an otter kill. Could be any number of things, from a dead fish that something dragged up there, to a raccoon, a snapping turtle, a gator, an osprey, what have you. I have watched otters eat large fish such as steelhead, and they are not particularly wasteful animals. Food is too precious to give up for most predators.

I would rather feed the otters than see them vanish. Yes, I get annoyed when they swim through the area I am fishing, and the fish DO react if they come within sight, but I have yet to see otters do any substantial harm to a fishery, outside of private fish-rearing operations.

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Originally Posted by fly-chucker

Many different animals are blamed for perceived declines in fisheries, this is usually not the case.

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The problem I have is BELIEVING them any more. So many environmentalists have invaded good organizations and imparted agenda above good, solid science that it has ruined good, solid TRUE CONSERVATION for me.