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Now this is an otter
By adamg on Sun, 05/21/2017 - 5:04pm
There was no mistaking this as anything but an otter, because you'd think the Audobon Society folks at the Trailside Museum at the Great Blue Hill would know the difference between an otter and a muskrat, at least based on the sign on the enclosure for the critter.
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Comments
I love that otter. It does
I love that otter. It does back flips and spins whenever we visit it. The Trailside is one of my favorite Boston-area hidden gems.
Yeah, a most cool place
We went yesterday to learn about turtles (turtles!), of course wandered around for other stuff (bald eagle, vultures, deer and, of course, more turtles). Just the right size - a lot of interesting stuff, but not large enough to be overwhelming.
More info.
You like turtles? Have you
You like turtles? Have you visited the New England Wildlife Center in Weymouth? Plenty of turtles of all kinds to see and learn about them and other native wildlife.
That otter is in jail
That otter makes me so sad, trapped in a concrete pit forever, all alone. The concrete pit is straight out of some horrible 1970s small-town zoo. A previous otter died a few years ago and they mysteriously got another so-called "injured in the wild" otter almost immediately afterwards. (Ever think about how old that sign is? A worker there all but admitted to me one day that it was bullshit.) Every time I see that otter I want to start a campaign to let it free, or--once it dies in captivity--make sure that they never get another one. No zoo looks like this anymore.
It may not be able to live on its own
Many of the animals in these facilities can't - they may need medication, they may have been abandoned or orphaned by their parents and have to be hand reared and thus too tame.
It might be good if you would research the story - maybe call and ask some questions - before just deciding that it was all bs.
Update: Audubon says quite directly that the animals at this facility are disabled and cannot be released into the wild: http://www.massaudubon.org/get-outdoors/wildlife-sanctuaries/blue-hills-...
Most educational wildlife,
Most educational wildlife, kept by responsible organizations at least, are otherwise healthy animals with non-releasable injuries (something that would prevent them from surviving on their own) that would otherwise result in them being euthanized if there wasn't an educational purpose for them.
One of the most famous: Toola the sea otter
http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Otter-who-raised-orphaned-pups-inspir...
She washed up, pregnant and very ill with toxoplasmosis. She recovered, but needed seizure medication to survive and couldn't be released. While her own pup was stillborn, she was able to rear 15 other abandoned/orphaned pups and trained them well for their return to the wild before she passed away in 2012. Before Toola, pups were hand-reared, got too attached to people, and never learned the skills that they would need to survive.
Even if the otter can't live
Even if the otter can't live on its own, they could at least give it a better habitat than a concrete pit.
Maybe it's a money thing
Maybe it's a money thing, and maybe you could start a drive to raise funds for a better habitat. I'd contribute.
Our idea of otter habitat
May not be otter's idea.
I kayak, I see otters, and that habitat really does have all the right elements. Most river banks around here are rocky and have snag trees. River otters are solo animals, and they stick around in the same area of the river. As long as they do some enrichment activities, or have a slide for her to play with, she's probably just fine in there.
Help Save Trailside!
A great place close to the city, Trailside recently had their budget cut. Go to http://www.massaudubon.org/get-outdoors/wildlife-sanctuaries/blue-hills-... to rwad up on the museum and help save a great institution!
Thanks for this
Thanks for this, I am forwarding this on my network and also investigating the best way to donate directly. The Blue Hills is something that the city of Boston really needs.
Adorable!