Fuzzy was he?

You otter give 'em a what fur!

And continues to be, even. It wasn't anything like flying a chopper while getting shot at, but leaning down and out of the truck with the door propped open against the wind with left foot/leg, while on a turn, in the passing lane on the highway and snatching him barehanded on the go might've impressed someone. Maybe.

That someone ain't gonna' be Mrs. KG though, unless I get the blood off her seat before her next ride!

Gonna tan it? It's a beaut.

That's my hope. I'm going to see about calling F&G and see if I can get a tag. A buddy did that with a fisher cat. Said they generally didn't like folks grabbing roadkill, but let him slide. He'd just been killed. No rigor and blood was still running (don't ask me how I know that, but suffice it to say I got a few interesting looks as I walked into the office...)

Just got off the phone with an EPO Sgt., and he said I was all set, just to mention his name and call F&W Monday for a tag.

Anyone have a good contact/recommendation for case tanning furs, I'd appreciate it. Preferably in New England, but shipping isn't that big of an issue. As the bastards have essentially taken trapping away from us in MA, I don't have the foggiest idea about this stuff. Appreciate any help.

That's a big one, compared to the river otters I saw in CA. Give a short whistle they will often come to investigate.

Am I the only one who was expecting a 3 stooges vid?

Good snag, KG.

I've seen a few over the years, always in rivers. I know where there's a small population of them along a stretch of river near me.



I also managed to capture a couple of amorous sea otters in SE Alaska that I sneaked up on and caught doing the nasty (not my intent but when he jumped her I thought, WTH, it's a NG moment... ) .

The males are mean SOBs, biting and scratching their ladies while doing their thing. That one lady otter saw me, and hauled tail for the water. Her 'man', persistent as ever, was dragged with her, literally hanging on to her and leaving drag marks in the rocky beach...

I tan my own, but never seem to get the suppleness of a pro tanning outfit. Moyle's has a good reputation. Go to trapperman.com and start a thread. Our trappin' forum below has good people - not much traffic tho.

I'd dearly love to, really I would, but as my current residence is a condo/loft, with one large room, that ain't gonna' happen. I do appreciate the input very much, however, and thanks.

On a related note, I told the wife recently that we're moving soon. I need some land, a garage, a basement and a barn. It's nice, but I'm tired of being cramped up in that damned place.

KG what have you done with the otter ie is it in the freezer or cold storage to preserve the fur,or did you skin it and put it in cold storage?

I put some ice on it and it's currently in my truck in a box in the garage. Grabbed him 3 hours ago on my way to work. What I'd like to do is simply put him in my game freezer at home whole, and after getting the tag(s), send him as is to someone I'll happily pay to case skin and tan for me. I don't want to botch the job. I've skinned a few critters in my day, including large critters like bear, but never case skinned anything. Any suggestions gratefully accepted, and thank you.

not that hard just take your time and use a small blade.

You are doing it right,cool it off and freeze it.Don't know if this would do any good,but,just a suggestion put the otter in panty hose then freeze it. It may make it easier to skin,but again it's a suggestion.

Thanks kindly, sir. I appreciate the advice.

You're welcome.

Not sayin' otters are mean just because they can rip your face off and eat before you say 'Dayum!'. But you gotta give 'em credit for attitude...they eat 'gators.

I didn't know that. The ones I've seen eating were into fish, happily eating their heads off. That is an impressive critter, and to see then swim and maneuver underwater is an amazing thing. They're pretty well rounded little badasses. Here's a monkey that learned that the h-a-r-d way.

The wee gummers have sack too, that's for sure!

Yikes. That looked like pay-back for something.

A few years back, our DFG had to kill a couple of them that were attacking people in one of the local foothill lakes.

and then there's trained otters...

They double team gators, one distracting them while the other comes up from beneath and rips their throat open. After the gator drowns they haul it ashore and chow down. Generally they stick to killing smaller gators, 3 to maybe 6' length, at least as far as I'm aware. Still when they show up in the back yard the gators leave, regardless of size

Thing they do that amazes me most is they eat crabs. Shells and all. Then they pass the shells. And people think they are tuff. Hell, I bet that would bring a tear to even Hulk Hogan's eyes.

I used to encounter them quite often south of Monterey where I used to spearfish & snag scallops...They seemed pretty docile to me, certainly not intimidating. Any creature on earth can decide to come after you at any given time...I once had to kill a sparrow that kept coming at me...no nest that I ever found & I never could figure out why...

Kamo, that would make a beautiful mount.

Those otters can sure ruin the bass fishing on east texas creeks.

We've got some ground owls around here that seem to have an appetite for crawdads...how they can see & catch them is a mystery to me....but the broken shells in their scat next to the burrows is a dead giveaway...

STX: You know there's more than one way to do that, right?

Thanks, but you must have me confused with Deflave.

Yea, Travis will mount anything.

I am offended by this whole thread . . .

9.4

Proving once again that truth is often stranger better than fiction.

PETA hasn't made exactly great strides in putting an end to this, and many other Japanese traditions, apparently. Bird looks pretty happy to me. I wish I could have a herd of the things. Leave my trout rods at home, and just bring the cormies along in a sack or something. A dozen would be a reasonable number. Gang rig 'em like a Texas duck spread. Whip the lot over the side and crack a frosty or what have you, until each one has a fish stuck in his gullet, then drag the whole rig back into the skiff. Would be pretty slick, but I'm thinking the tangles generated by my bird slaves would get pretty bad...





Chinese version (birds tend to break easily, I am told).

Hmm. A hunter-killer team type thing, like. The hell you say...

Well, it seems I spouted off and made a statement that wasn't accurate. Otter MAY BE trapped in MA. There is no season for them as far as firearm, but there is in fact a season for them. Apologies for the bad info I posted earlier.

http://www.mass.gov/dfwele/dfw/regulations/plain_language/hunting_trapping.htm