Tag Archives: North American River Otter

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Males approach female North American River Otters now for mating. As you can see in Perry Hoffman's photo, the male holds the female's snout in his mouth. Ouch!

More not-so-loving courtship behavior.

It can be painful for the female, and maybe that is why once mating is done she has nothing to do with the male and he is persona non grata. If you see a family of River Otters, it is the mother with her offspring.

River Otters cannot abide pollution so that fact they are thriving here on the Mendonoma Coast is a testament to the clean waters of our rivers and streams.

Thanks to Perry for allowing me to share his photos with you here. He has a photography opening at the White Cap in Anchor Bay on May 19th from 3 to 6 pm. to see much more of Perry's photography, here is the link to his website: https://magentaraven.com/

It's lightly raining this afternoon. The wildflowers are glorious now, so when the rain relents, the Mendonoma Coast will be a feast for the eyes!

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Brenna Dix had a great sighting on a recent weekend. She wrote, “I was sitting on the beach at the Point Arena Pier. Suddenly this River Otter swam up to the beach and  ran up the shore.

The otter looked at the people walking on the sidewalk,

and immediately ran back into the water. No one else seemed to notice. He was only in sight for a matter seconds. I have never been more happy to have my camera with me. Right place, right time!”

It's almost like the River Otter thought "YIKES! Giants!" and headed back to the ocean. It's amazing to me how close the otter got to the people, and that they didn't notice.

Thanks to Brenna for allowing me to share her photos with you here.

After Saturday night's rainstorm, and Sunday morning's showers, we are having a beautiful sunny day today. Warm weather moving in for the next couple of days.

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Eric Zetterholm has been trying to photograph North American River Otters at the Gualala River. There is a family that lives alongside the river. Eric recently photographed one of the elusive otters as he or she dove into the water.

The Gualala River was majestic yesterday with the high tide bringing huge waves over what is left of the sandbar. I will share some photos and video of that soon.

Thanks to Eric for allowing me to share his photo with you here.

Tuesday started with rain showers. The next few days are suppose to be dry and mild. The ocean is still loud - it's quite amazing to hear.

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Sara Bogard spotted this River Otter in the Pacific Ocean off the Point Arena-Stornetta Lands.

Yes, North American River Otters swim in the ocean, in rivers and creeks, and can walk on land. Here's a photo of of River Otter tracks taken by Catherine Miller - five toes!

And a favorite photo taken by Rich Kuehn of a River Otter eating octopus.

Thanks to Sara, Catherine and Rich for allowing me to share their photos with you here.

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Eric Zetterholm was out photographed the Bald Eagles when he saw this North American River Otter running across the sand bar.

Eric took this photo a while ago of two River Otters at the river, one looking right at him!

Thanks to Eric for allowing me to share his photos with you here.

We had a nice big, wet storm come through yesterday. We had almost two inches in our rain gauge. Cold air came in behind the storm. We're such wimps here in Northern California that we think 45 degrees is way too cold!

Last night's sunset was quite beautiful. Here's my photo, take from our deck in Anchor Bay. Pretty dramatic, don't you think?!