The York Land Trust > Year of the Otter

2007 is The Year of the Otter

Preserving habitat for the large diversity of plants and animals that call this southernmost tip of Maine, home, is one of the important objectives of York Land Trust’s conservation work. Beginning this year, we will be choosing a particular animal or plant to celebrate and focus on throughout the year---one that is a beneficiary of our work and serves as a symbol of hope of what is possible through our land conservation efforts.

For 2007, it will be the Year of the Otter. We have many special outings and events planned for you to learn about these playful, wonderful members of the weasel family.

Name our River Otter Contest

As the York Land Trust outreach booth made its way around York for events like the Farmer's Market, Celebrate Maine Festival and Art in the Park this year, we collected entries for our Name Our River Otter Contest.

For those of you who have yet to see our wooden river otter, it stands about 4 feet tall and is an embassador for our conservation efforts all year long!

Here is the list of names submitted:

Scooter
Chuck
Lance
Oliver
Owen
Schooner
Dakota
Whiskers
Ottie
Arthur
Brownie
Benny
Oscer
Otto
Duck
Potter
Reggie
Checks
Jetta
Leah
Odis
Flippy
Yorkie
Oceana
Ossie
Slippery
Toby
Gabby
Keeble
Sir Randolph Olivier
Bob
Gerald
and Evelyn

The winning name was chosen at YLT's annual meeting in September. See top article.

Winter Otter Trek: Wildlife Tracking at Cape Neddick Golf Course
January 26th, 2008

The York Land Trust rounded out it's Year of the Otter with a Winter Otter Trek to the Cape Neddick Golf Course Easement in search of otter tracks and other wildlife. In the capable hands of White Pines' naturalist and expert tracker, Dan Gardoqui, a bundled-up group of 26 spent the morning exploring a frozen snowy swamp for signs of life. By far the most common tracks the group discovered were coyote and fox.

At this time of year, the foxes are pairing up, and we were fortunate to find a pair of tracks intertwined across an expanse of woodland near the marsh edge. As we identified a fresh set of coyote tracks, Dan told us that coyotes travel in sets of two or three, and the individual we were tracking on the lower ground was likely matched with a set of tracks running parallel to it higher up on the old trolly track's raised bed. If we took the time to look further, he told us, we might uncover the third coyote's tracks deeper into the woods.


Dan Gardoqui.	The group takes a closer look at coyote tracks.	Busy winter traffic!

While out, the group saw nice examples of tracks made by pocupines, squirrels and deer. We didn't find any signs of otters, although there has been evidence of them using the property in winters past. Amy Phalon of Seacoast Newspapers joined us for the morning, and wrote a piece for the York Weekly that you can read by following this link to the news and events page.

Three-year old Emerald Wins the Name Our Otter Contest

Just call him “Yorkie”! Thanks to three-year-old Emerald Mundt of Acton, the York Land Trust’s 4-ft tall wooden river otter has a name. The wooden otter served as the Trust’s mascot this year to celebrate the “Year of the Otter”, showcasing one of the many species of local wildlife that the Trust works to protect through its land conservation efforts.

The Trust’s educational display, which traveled throughout the region for events like the York Farmer’s Market and Rachel Carson’s 100th birthday party at the Wells Reserve, held a “Name Our Otter” contest, receiving entries from people of all ages, and names ranging from “Bob” to “Evelyn”! The final voting took place at the York Land Trust annual members meeting where Yorkie was the clear winner.

“We came across the York Land Trust at the Celebrate Maine Festival in Eliot,” explains Brenda, Emerald’s mother. “As I was reading the contest directions to Emma, I said York Land Trust and then she yelled out, Yorkie! I agreed that would be a good name and we entered it into the contest,” Brenda said.

According to her mother, Emerald has always been interested in the outdoors and wildlife. “We have not seen otters in the wild yet, but we often run into raccoons, deer, porcupines, and bear in our yard,” says Brenda.

As winner of the contest, Emerald received a gift membership in the York Land Trust. “We are proud to be members of the York Land Trust as we understand the value of protecting the land in our seacoast and beyond,” Brenda states, reflecting on her family’s view of conservation, “we will use this gift to educate Emma about what it means to respect nature and to learn about the creatures that live here in southern Maine.”

Emerald, the budding naturalist, was also awarded a field guide on tracking wildlife signs, generously donated by the Kittery Trading Post. “Kittery Trading Post is happy to be involved in the outstanding work that the York Land Trust is doing –it’s a pleasure to see the Trust encouraging our next generation of outdoorsmen and women,” said Kevin Adams, President and CEO of the Trading Post.

Spring Otter Trek with the Center for Wildlife

On a gorgeous spring day in May, we set out on the first of four seasonal Otter Treks to celebrate and explore the Year of the Otter. It was a small but enthusiastic group who had the opportunity to see some of the area's wildlife up close as Center for Wildlife staff Laura Dehler and Kristin Lamb brought out a red-tailed hawk (and later a few turtles), describing what folks can do to protect them and their habitat in York.

As the hawk began to stretch its wings in the breeze, we decided to stretch our legs. Returning the animals to their crates, we trekked down to the river bank to look for signs of otter using the area. We didn't have to go very far before we saw otter scat on the ground near the bank. Looking down with the tide about half low, there, in the mud, were otter tracks!

otter tracks in the mud

The tracks made criss-crossing muddy divots leading right up to a nice sized hole in the bank. It was tricky to view from above, but we managed to get a good photograph of what we saw:

otter den photo

In all, it was a very enjoyable and rewarding trek. It's good to know that we do still have river otters living among us, using the York River and surrounding land as their home. There certainly aren't as many otters around as there used to be. Many locals recall a time when otters played in abundance and sightings were commonplace. Their enduring presence provides us with yet one more reason to protect this beautiful river.

Visit our Events page for information about upcoming Otter Treks.

Emerald and Yorkie

Emerald with "Yorkie".

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View of the Upper Reaches of the York River, the location of our Spring Otter Trek in May, 2007.

Summer Otter Trek Along the York River

Continuing our Year of the Otter focus, the York Land Trust took a group of 20 kayakers up the York River in July to look for signs of otter in the upper reaches. Tricky weather limited our trip, and we headed back to Scotland Bridge just in time for the rain and thunder to reach us. But not before making it up to the mouth of Smelt Brook where a right hand turn off the river opens up into a surprising expanse of tidal salt marsh and forested edge.

As our raft of paddlers spread out along the route upriver, we scouted out all the muddy banks and flats we could see, searching for wildlife tracks and signs of activity along the shoreline. It proved to be a quiet day, with a few suggestions of otter haul-outs in the reeds, but nothing obvious as we had seen on the Spring Trek.

Summer Trek Kayakers

So where are the otters in July? The active den site was vacant, perhaps hinting at a new otter family grown enough to be out and about, far from its late winter nest. Of course, we were on the river at mid-day, when otters are least active and visible. Dusk and early morning are the most active times for them.

The Trust continues to get reports about otters seen in the area, so we know they are here. A smaller, stealthier group of paddlers may have better luck witnessing our playful wildlife on the next trip out. As it was, still a beautiful day to experience all that our York River has to offer.