63°River otter appears in Northwest Ohio
Jan 06
2012
River Otters could be returning to Northwest Ohio. Wildlife officials have documented the first river otter to appear in Putnam County in almost 100 years.
The male river otter was discovered by a trapper along the Auglaize River, near Cloverdale, Ohio, according to a news release issued by Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Wildlife on Thursday. The animal was trapped in a raccoon snare along the river bank and died before the trapper could release it.
Because Putnam County is closed to otter trapping, the trapper turned the animal over to ODNR.
The find means successful otter populations in eastern and southern parts of the state may be expanding northward.
River otters are native to Ohio, but hunting and habitat destruction pushed to state-wide extinction by the 1900s. ODNR began a project to reintroduce river otters to the state in 1986, releasing 123 otters from Arkansas and Louisiana into the Grand River, Killlbuck Creek, Little Muskingum River and Stillwater Creek.
The otter population has grown from there and now otters have been sighted in two-thirds of Ohio's counties, according to ODNR. Otters were removed from Ohio's endangered species list in 2002, and trapping is permitted in 43 counties.
ODNR monitors otter populations through a helicopter snow-track survey, a bridge-crossing survey, and public observation reports.
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11:50 AM
Taxpayer says
All I know is these cute little weasels love to eat fish and shellfish. They have a voracious appetite and will catch and consume most of the fish out of a pond or stream. Then they move on to another. That is all they do and they are good at it. They hunt, eat, make little otters and have fun in doing all of it. They WILL be in Erie County. There are a lot of farm ponds where I enjoy fishing for bass. Just wait until a family of them sets up shop at Resthaven Wildlife Area. They also love those tasty Castalia Farms trout. THEN they will become a problem and the "balance" of the liberal HOAX eco-system will demand we PAY more to control (eliminate) them. Just wait and see. There is NO demand for otter pelts for warm clothing or food anymore. I purchase North Face, Columbia, LL Bean, Patagonia and other warm clothing items. The synthetic materials provide very efficient warmth, have a plethora of pockets and gadgets, rain protection and less maintenance than products of natural origin. Just ask all those mink farm owners in Erie County who enjoyed large PROFITS decades ago. All that odoriferous scent and little mink escapes from those long buildings no longer exist or are run down and abandoned. The demand by society (consumers) has dried up. Yes, you crybaby liberals can BLAME technology, free business capitalistic enterprise, OIL and PROFIT for those trappers and mink farmers for losing their jobs. Your cynicism, ignorance and constant BLAME is the reason for your own self-anointed misery. Ha! Ha!
02:48 PM
FruGalSpender says
ethanol can be made from just about any material that has cellulose. using corn drives up the price which means higher food costs. http://biofuelguide.net/
03:12 AM
gilamonster says
10:10 PM
cmorbimor says
About 2003 a river otter was killed by a semi on 163 outside Oak Harbor. The Ranger said at that time the otters were expanding throughout Ottawa County and the other ajoining counties. Like the Eagle, they are slowly coming back. Leave them alone and let them multiply.
08:33 PM
Captain Gutz says
We should make ethanol from every ottter that is accidentally killed by a trap designed to kill little furry creatures.
01:37 PM
Seriously_Local says
America should be producing ethanol from prarie grass. There would be less emmisions used to collect and make it, and it wouldn't take away from our food supply. It's a win-win.
12:41 PM
The Bizness says
Eriemom is correct, ethanol can be made from just about any material that has cellulose.
Subsidies for all fuel should end by the way.
12:10 PM
eriemom says
Ethanol can also be produced using other photosynthetic organisms--biofuels. Currently there is research being completed that uses genetically modified algae. It produces a higher lipid product.
11:35 AM
BigMoney says
Otter? Looks like a seal to me, maybe it got loose from Cedar Point's Oceana
10:12 AM
goofus says
I hope you don't mean the bio deisel the navy bought and got hosed by the company run by one of Obozo's top money providers. Ethanol, there's a real conundrum, let's take a food group and make fuel. However, now that the subsidies have ended why are plants producing ethanol closing
http://gigaom.com/cleantech/3-of-4-us-ethanol-plants-could-shut-down/
Here's the Navy scam
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=964_1323663647
09:30 AM
The Bizness says
@goofus
Just because global warming is real doesn't mean that past destruction can't be remedied. However why wait till something is destroyed before making a proactive move? Btw I am not a tree hugger, I just think it would be smart to produce all of our own energy from renewables in the good ol USA. It would be cheaper, safer, and make us a leader in a new global economy. Oh and just to make you happy we can continue to use a version of ethanol that the military already uses for some of its air craft, and expand that ability fleet wide.
09:18 AM
goofus says
How can all these old species reappear when the world according to tree huggers is falling apart with global warming.
08:59 AM
Just Thinkin says
bigdad 1205, You need to relax, It's harvest and without the Trapper's, Fisherman and Hunter's money the Wildlife would still be missing in OHIO. It wasn't the Sportsmen & Women who killed them off. It was the settler's who ate them, wore them and disliked them into extinction.Sportspeople's money have restored land & wildlife for everyone!. PS how about the BEAVER it's back in ERIE county in Sandusky Bay river's and waterways, or the Wild Turkey ,the eagle the sandhill crane etc.etc. all with Sportsmans money ! FACT
07:51 AM
bigdad1205 says
Just like the bobcat. Hey a species is finaly coming back lets kill it.