Monday 8 October 2012

Otters at Watermill Cottages

Well, our guests in Crownwheel Cottage in early September could hardly believe their luck. 

They were woken about miudnight by strange whistling sounds coming from the river which runs below the double bedroom window. 

They peeped out of the curtains, keeping the room dark, and there below them was a pair of otters playing in the stream.  The night was clear and the moon bright so their view was good.  It looked like a mature pair, male and female.

We had had traces of otters - there were fish remains on the lawn in spring - and we're delighted that they are so close.  Who knows, maybe they'll breed in the valley?  Some years ago it was not unusual to see otters and their babies on the lawn outside Crownwheel Cottage, and there have been sightings in the past two years on the main lawn and in Quack Cottage's garden.

When Nick from the Slapton Ley Field Centre was here the following Monday for the weekly Gara Brook water test he was thrilled to hear the news. 

We're just longing for the chance to take a photo!

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