Thread: otters
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Old 12-28-2014, 07:22 PM   #1
saltcod
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City: Campbell River
Vessel Name: Selkie
Vessel Model: Canoe Cove 41
Join Date: Sep 2014
Posts: 114
otters

This is probably not a problem for many boaters, but here in the Pnw, even in saltwater, river otters getting up onto the docks can be a big nuisance. My wife and I were down at the boat today doing some maintenance work, and as we walked along the back side of the boat shed, we noticed that there was fresh otter scat right where I had hosed it off the concrete sidewalk a week or so previously. I applied new licence numbers to our boat today and to get at the port side I pulled the bow across to the other side of our two stall berth, so I could get at the other side of the boat. I noticed the boat in the next stall, with black mooring lines, had otter scat all over the lines where the dock cleat is mounted. What a nice surprise to discover for the absentee owner.
When we bought our boat, it was in an individual shed and there was an electric fence 3" high around the edge of the berth. No otter scat.
We own horses and have found that electric fencing is a very effective tool to keep horses out of where you don't want them to be. I'm thinking of suggesting to the marina owner that an electric fence otter deterrent be installed on the dock. Anybody else experience this possibly uniquely Pnw problem?
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