Blackwater home for elusive otters

A STRANGE thing about otters is that, even though they can be found around many rivers and lakes, you don’t see them that often.

Shy, elusive creatures — up to a metre long to the tip of the tail with a thick, brown coat of fur — they generally emerge at dusk, or after dark.

There was a dramatic decline in the otter population throughout Europe in the second half of the 20th century, but the falloff here has been much less and the national otter population is now around 12,000, according to the National Parks and Wildlife Service.