SUBMITTED PHOTO DAN SCHIEBELBEIN Otters makes their way down to the South Sask. River near Police Point Park.
mcranker@medicinehatnews.com@MHNmocranker
Police Point Park has a few new residents living on its grounds.
Park officials recently have been notified and have found a small group of otters living near the water in the park – something that was quite out of the blue.
“Otters are extremely rare to see,” said park interpreter Marty Drut. “When we first started hearing that people were seeing otters, we just didn’t believe it. We thought it might have been mink because they’re fairly common.
“We started getting photos sent in and there they were – northern river otter.”
Drut reached out to Mark Edwards, the Royal Alberta Museum’s curator of mammalogy, who agreed it was unusual to see these animals in southern Alberta.
“He made a comment that they may be returning to some of their historic range,” he said. “Things like beavers and otters were trapped during the fur trade but we don’t know for sure.
“We’ll have to wait and see what happens.”
Drut says the park does not know if the otters will stay or move on.
“They seem to be pretty happy right now where they are,” he said. “There’s lots of food in the river for them to eat and they can move to the other side of the river quite easily.
“If they feel bothered or harassed by people, they can just go to the other side.”
After otters mate, males are no longer involved with the female or young otters. The females are required to find somewhere to live and raise the young, Drut says.
“Typically the females will move on and find an abandoned den of another animal,” said Drut. “So we don’t know if this is a mom with older kids or if it’s a group of males looking for a place to hang out.”
Park staff are encouraging people to treat otters like any other wild animal.
“There’s a fairly broad area they seem to be hanging out in,” he said. “Just don’t bother them. This is a unique thing for us, so we can just keep our distance and enjoy it from afar.
“We’d love if they stuck around and established themselves here.”
