[stacey2010]

Sounds great. I would like to visit Scotland someday to see all the wildlife.

ORIGINAL: vichillman

thank you, yep all take in Scotland, we have some truely amazing wildlife up here, I'm working on an 8 month contract in the Inner Hebrides as a wildlife guide and photographer.

[Hawk_Eye]

It's a very nice place althgouh admittedly I've only seen the south-east corner. Went out to Bass Rock which was an experience I recommend for all. Definately going to go further North when I get a chance.

[cabbage]

My absolute favourite animal! Was lucky enough to see Otters on several occasions on holiday on Mull a couple of years ago, a mum and two cubs playing and fishing only yards away from the main ferry terminal with a fully laden ferry unloading its cargo of tourists was perhaps the strangest sighting - no-one coming off the ferry seemed to notice a thing!

Best sighting was on the "scenic road" down near Pennyghael spotted an otter about 30yards offshore, abandoned the car in a layby and forgot all the rules of wildlife stalking! Forget all the advice about staying downwind, moving only when the otter is underwater and staying in cover at all times, in our excitement we literally ran across the rocks on the shoreline towards the poor unsuspecting creature!

We were lucky as this was clearly an understanding otter, she never batted an eyelid and stayed calmly fishing just offshore, we sat ourselves down to watch and were treated to an amazing wild encounter. She stayed fishing offshore for a good half hour, close enough that we could see the glint of her teeth as she tucked into the juicy butterfish she was catching in abundance, we were close enough to hear her lips smacking as she tucked in. Eventually we decided it was time to leave, but just as we stood up she decided she'd had enough of fishing and made a beeline straight for us on the shore. We just stood there afraid to move a muscle as she entered the seaweed on the shoreline no more than 10 yards away from us.

She was clearly aware we were there, popping up through the weeds to watch us and when she came on shore craning her head round the rocks to keep us in view. She didn't seem in the slightest scared though she didn't want to get any closer than she already was. In the end we got worried that we were disturbing her, perhaps preventing her from getting to her holt so we decided to move on and leave her in peace to enjoy the rest of her afternoon. Magical.

We've both taken an otter surveying course since then and have been amazed to find that there are otters even in the heart of Edinburgh, found plenty of spraints but no actual sightings - yet!

[wildone]

Hi, We were in Tobermory on the Isle of Mull a couple of weeks ago and noticed a tiny poster for a film show in the art centre. To be honest we were not expecting much from the two films being shown, one about the work of the Whale and Dolphin Trust which operates from Tobermory and the other by a local artist about the Tobermory otter. The otter film was excellent. The story is basically why and how this solitary male otter live along side this beautiful town and has interviews with the locals who describe their otter encounters. The kids are particularly entertaining. I think the chap spent 2 or 3 years making this film, its a bit of an otter obsession. You see the otter interacting with people and engaged in a bit of theft from boats. All I can say is, if your in Tobermory and you see a tiny poster in the co-op for a film show, go and see it. Its an unusual, beautifully made gem of a film which makes me wish I had visited Tobermory last year to see this otter in action!

[vichillman]

Video from the August whirlpool specials, just working on a few more things at the moment to, hopefully will post them soon.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tugdep9dEqY

[cabbage]

Hi, We were in Tobermory on the Isle of Mull a couple of weeks ago and noticed a tiny poster for a film show in the art centre. To be honest we were not expecting much from the two films being shown, one about the work of the Whale and Dolphin Trust which operates from Tobermory and the other by a local artist about the Tobermory otter. The otter film was excellent. The story is basically why and how this solitary male otter live along side this beautiful town and has interviews with the locals who describe their otter encounters. The kids are particularly entertaining. I think the chap spent 2 or 3 years making this film, its a bit of an otter obsession. You see the otter interacting with people and engaged in a bit of theft from boats. All I can say is, if your in Tobermory and you see a tiny poster in the co-op for a film show, go and see it. Its an unusual, beautifully made gem of a film which makes me wish I had visited Tobermory last year to see this otter in action!

We visited Tobermory twice while we were on Mull but never managed to see the local celebrity Otter, though luckily we spotted them elsewhere. We were greatly amused by the signs round the harbour politely asking people not to feed 'Elvis' the Otter as he was getting too tame. So much for Otters being elusive creatures!

Hopefuly this doesn't come as a surprise to you but I was saddened to read earlier this year that he unfortunately passed away, he gave so much joy to the thousands of people who saw him, a real ambassador for his species. Hopefuly some young up and coming relative will be along to take his place in front of the crowds.

[vichillman]

Sounds like you've had some great encounters with otters, I was always under the impression that theyare very shy and elusive creatures that are rarely seen (what I've always been told) but if your quiet and don't pose a threat I think they are actually quite used to humans and you stand a chance of getting a memorable encounter with one. Certainly the ones up on the west coast don't seem to be too bothered with us, we've had them eating on our dinghy!
Love to hear anymore stories if anyone has any.

[wildone]

Just found this on youtube. You can get an idea at the end of the clip of how bold the Tobermory otter was. Most of the clip is about rain - yes it does rain there! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=caj-vBvWQfU Sad to say I have never had such an encounter. In the film the RSPB man said interactions usually end up badly, as with swans etc, but that doesn't seem to be the case with the Tobermory otter.

[stacey2010]

Saw two otters today at the zoo, so not in the wild.
They were so cute.
Couldn't get any photos though as the otters were behide glass and the photos came out blured.

[cabbage]

Our local zoo (Edinburgh) has Asian Short-Clawed Otters rather than European ones but they are very cute and always bimbling round their enclosure playing in the stream. One of their ponds is heated so I expect it'll be getting some heavy use by now!

I was on Skye this year and found plenty of otter spraints and half eaten crabs but no live otters unfortunately. Seems they may be a bit more shy on Skye, probably due to the much larger human population - did manage a couple of Minke whales and a pod of dolphins though so it wasn't totally wasted. Mull is definitely the place to go for Otters IMO, not to mention Golden Eagles and Sea Eagles.

I was out looking for Otter signs on my local river on Monday, not sure there was much, a very few spraints which looked more Mink than Otter. Have to say the river is very heavily polluted from an upstream sewage farm unfortunately.
Had a bit more luck with a stream that feeds the Union canal, definite Otter spraints by a couple of bridges and one or two possible slides. Its really heartening to know that animals like this are in the local area even if its unlikely I'll ever see them!

Highlight of the trip was the stoat that ran across the road on the walk back to the car though!

Video from the August whirlpool specials, just working on a few more things at the moment to, hopefully will post them soon.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tugdep9dEqY

Thats a fab video of Corryvreckan! I visit Oban regularly so I've heard of the whirlpool but never seen it before

Sounds like you've had some great encounters with otters, I was always under the impression that theyare very shy and elusive creatures that are rarely seen (what I've always been told) but if your quiet and don't pose a threat I think they are actually quite used to humans and you stand a chance of getting a memorable encounter with one. Certainly the ones up on the west coast don't seem to be too bothered with us, we've had them eating on our dinghy!
Love to hear anymore stories if anyone has any.

Now thats what I call a close encounter, thats quite a service you provide, an otter picnic spot!

Just found this on youtube. You can get an idea at the end of the clip of how bold the Tobermory otter was. Most of the clip is about rain - yes it does rain there! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=caj-vBvWQfU Sad to say I have never had such an encounter. In the film the RSPB man said interactions usually end up badly, as with swans etc, but that doesn't seem to be the case with the Tobermory otter.

On behalf of the Scottish Tourist board I'd like to point out that it doesn't always rain on Mull. Just most of the time