Brother and sister river otters atop a fallen nurse log stalk Taft Creek, looking for their next coho salmon or perhaps a frog or two.
Playful Hoh Rain Forest river otters mimic human families A
s Henry David Thoreau reflected on humanity at Walden Pond almost 200 years ago, so Olympic National Park Ranger Jon Preston does today at Taft Creek in the old-growth Hoh Rain Forest located on the West End of the Olympic Peninsula. Preston, who is upbeat in his approach to nature in comparison to Thoreau’s deep transcendental musing, often focuses on the wily antics of a family of river otters who inhabit pristine Taft Creek. The Hoh Rain Forest Visitor Center-based ranger could use the same webbed feet that propel the river otters when waterborne. The center is located under a lush canopy of spruces, red cedar, vine maple and other coniferous and deciduous trees. Rain usually falls by the bucket from September through February, the prime time for river otter action in the creek, with average totals of 140-170 inches easily surpassing the 120-inch average at nearby Forks, the rainiest town in all the lower 48 states. Taft Creek, the center of the action for observing Preston’s family of river otters, is just steps away from the visitor center, which is 18 miles inland off U.S. Highway 101, at the end of the Upper Hoh Road. The center’s interpretive display, set up several decades ago by Hoh Rain Forest scholar and author Ruth Kirk, offers retro-style glimpses at the flora, fauna and geology of the
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Story by Chris Cook | Photos by Jon Preston
Hoh River Valley region. Taft Creek’s name was given not in honor of an employee, explorer or scientist, but in the spirit of West End pioneer humor. Former Hoh Rain Forest Ranger Smitty Parratt tells the tale of Taft Creek in Poseidon Peak Publishing’s “Gods & Goblins,” Olympic National Park’s place name book. U.S. Forest Service crewman Charley Anderson named it 100 years ago after thenPresident William Howard Taft, who served from 1909-1913, Parratt states, because “the spring-fed creek had no head and wandered aimlessly around flatlands with no idea of where it was going”. Having the rain forest wilderness of Taft Creek right at his back door at the interpretive center provides Preston with a unique opportunity to observe the daily and seasonal activities of a family of five river otters with which he’s become well acquainted. “We used to occasionally see river otters, they were a passing thing, until the salmon started coming back,” Preston recalls. “The salmon numbers shot up when we replaced a culvert 11 years ago. Suddenly these otters would come out and hang out for months … I was able to start to figure out their routine.” One winter weekend Preston invited me out to his station for an up-close look at the river otter family’s feasting on spawning salmon. The nearly dead, black and crimson red scaled fish were
obviously dying and an easy target. It was amazing to be so close to the wily animals in action in the wild as they scurried up a mud bank to a flat grassy section that served as their dining table in the wild. No long hike and binoculars were needed. The river otters were right there, running around like your pet dog would in your backyard. It was like stepping into the frame of a Disney nature adventure film. This visit came after Preston had observed the river otters for years and he knew exactly where to look for them and was able to tell me what to expect. “It starts in morning upstream, they start chasing fish,” Preston says of knowing when to go out to see the river otters. “You hear a chirpy bark in the distance” that leads you to them. “I observed them, following them around making their paces. I was able to pick them out as a family of five — mom, dad and three kids, with one being younger. I began to watch the brother and sister picking on each other and Mom intervene … watching these things I made a connection — it was just like my own family in a way, as far as being a parent intervening.” Seeing how the river otter captures a salmon also was intriguing to him. “Taking down one of those big fish is no small task.” Preston went from observing to interpreting for others the life of the river otters at Taft Creek, introducing visitors to what
LIVING ON THE PENINSULA | SUMMER | JUNE 2012