Down to earth

By NICK GORE

There are many species of wildlife one hopes to see in their natural habitat in a lifetime – dolphins, whales, Golden Eagles – I could name quite a few, but one for me is the otter. I saw one once on the River Dart in Devon at some distance. I was living and working by the Piddle and had always held a hope that I might see one on my home patch, at least definitive evidence that they are here.

Well, after 39 years in Affpuddle I finally got the evidence.

Every year at West Farm we always seem to end up with a calf from our suckler herd that requires feeding with milk replacer and this year is no exception. The calf is called Bambi and is one of several motherless calves that live in a pen with access to the field behind the calf house. Bambi is a little over four months old and is still being fed milk.

To Roger Prideaux’s surprise, as he entered the pen to feed Bambi at first light on January 4, he discovered an otter curled