THE OTTER IN SUFFOLK T H E E A R L OF C R A N B R O O K
Introduction In E n g l a n d the otter is almost entirely nocturnal and is said to need a territory of about six miles (10 km) of river to support it. It seems only to hunt over one or two miles of its territory on any one night, sleeping in a different 'holt' or 'couch' on successive days. When hunting it does not swim in the river continually but leaves it to travel along the bank at times, marking its territory by leaving its droppings (spraints) where it leaves the water. Being nocturnal it is very seldom seen but its presence can be recognised by spraints, tracks, remains of f o o d , etc. It feeds largely on fish but also eats frogs, toads, crayfish and, not being entirely aquatic, such birds, rabbits, etc., as it can find. In o u r slow running rivers spraints and other signs are less f r e q u e n t and less obvious than they are in the faster flowing rivers of more hilly districts, with many bends where Otters o f t e n cut corners, rocks and stranded logs on all of which they tend to leave spraints. The absence of signs does not necessarily indicate the absence of otters. A fioating but stable sprainting site about 2ft 6in to 3ft wide and 3ft to 4ft long would probably be used by any otter passing it. Riparian o w n e r s along the middle and lower freshwater stretches of our rivers could do useful work by installing them. Status in Great Britain B e f o r e 1960 numbers over Great Britain as a whole seem to have been more or less stable, though the extent of habitat acceptable to otters was being reduced by such factors as disturbance by an increasing number of fishermen and pleasure boats, pollution, clearance of bankside cover by River Authorities, etc., etc. B e t w e e n 1957 and 1967, however, Otter Hunts reported a d r a m a t i c fall in the number of otters found. The fall was not u n i f o r m : Scotland and North Wales were not affected at all, the D a r t m o o r O t t e r H o u n d s reported a fall of 54 per cent, the E a s t e r n Counties covering Norfolk and Suffolk 50 per cent. T h e average fall over England and Wales was 40 per cent and it is obviously probable that there was a similar fall over the much larger area where no otter hounds went. In 1968 the