Otters

[koliver]

That's river otters, I was assuming he was dealing with sea otters based on where he is, I may be wrong?

River Otters.

Sea Otters were hunted to extinction in BC over 100 years ago. They were re-introduced to the west coast of Vancouver Island a few decades ago and are multiplying rapidly, but have not yet been seen in the Canadian Gulf Islands.

The River Otter population hereabouts is stable.

Back to my original reason for posting: This morning I watched as several otters once again played on my aft deck. This despite the measures I had taken to make their climb onto that deck as difficult as possible. As moorage had once again opened up at the YC outstation at Scott Point, I moved the boat to that moorage, where no otters have been bothersome this year. One of my friends present when I arrived suggested a mat of chicken wire on the swim grid, as being effective, and not too offensive to human traffic. I will be trying that next time I tie to the mooring bouy.

 

[Conrad]

Yes, River Otters. Sea Otters are rare, although I've seen them around Annette Inlet (Prevost Island) but usually out in the Gulf somewhere, often on their backs eating something and sometimes with a pup resting on their belly.

 

[ghost]

They are protected in the US, endangered species as well as protected sea mammal.

Believe that’s sea otters that are protected not river otters. I’ve only ever seen river otters in the Salish sea.

I’m moving to a slip that has a family of river otters that often hang out and am motivated to not run afoul of the mmpa in any way!

They mostly come at night. Mostly.

 

[Conrad]

Believe that’s sea otters that are protected not river otters. I’ve only ever seen river otters in the Salish sea.

I’m moving to a slip that has a family of river otters that often hang out and am motivated to not run afoul of the mmpa in any way!

They mostly come at night. Mostly.

In Canada, Sea Otters are protected, while River Otters can be harvested as long as the appropriate permits are in place.

 

[rgano]

Expensive maybe, but what about a a piece of canvas secured to the outboard edge of the swim grid and cinched up tight to the hand or cap rail of the boat? Maybe experiment with a slick blue tarp.

 

[SeaStarDF50]

We saw Sea Otters in South Puget Sound some years ago on one of our first cruises but have never seen any since. River Otters, however, are residents at our marina. They are often on the docks at night but we've luckily not had them on our boat. Some notes: They like to sleep on neatly circled dock lines so instead, pile the lines in a bumpy lump. They are attracted to something in new upholstery and carpet and have been known to shred the interiors of newly upholstered or carpeted boats. One owner has kept them off by putting carpet runners with grippy, spikey backs upside down on the swim step and cockpit. Good luck!

 

[sockeye]

This past summer we had numerous otters and seals

use our shelter in North Vancouver for their dinner parties leaving behind

the leftovers and of course otter and seal poop
A handyman who does lots of odd jobs at our club said the solution is to sprinkle laundry soap on the deck of the shelter as the otters don't like
smell of soap. We have had no problem since we tried this
Your boat is outside to the weather so you may have to be a little more inventive but soap does work
Also I heard from a friend in Pender Harbor that he keeps a radio in cockpit

with music on low .Apparently they don't like the sound and have kept out of his cockpit since he has used it. I have not tried the radio

Hope this helps

 

[menzies]

...with music on low .Apparently they don't like the sound and have kept out of his cockpit since he has used it. I have not tried the radio

Hope this helps

Handel's Water Music?

 

[ehirtz]

Keith.

I also have a trawler on Salt Spring Island with the same otter issue. I love to watch and photograph the otters but I’m not as fond of the clean up required. I’ve had otters in my boathouse in Surrey and also on the dock on Salt Spring, so I’ve tried various non-lethal methods to keep them at bay.

Otters are very sensitive to smells and will stay away from strong, disagreeable odours. In the boathouse I just sprinkled some Tide laundry detergent on the dock and they never came back. Another theory is that the soap interferes with the waterproofing oils in their coats, so they avoid it.

I’ve also tried the electric fence, which works but it’s a pain to maintain, and people kept tripping over the wire. I also leave the radio on 24/7.

On the Salt Spring dock, I filled a crab bait container with bleach and strapped it to the dock beside my boat. So far so good, I haven’t had any otters on my boat, although they are on other parts of the dock.

I know another guy who has success using moth balls on his sailboat deck.

Any kind of chemical odour might work. I’d be interested to hear about other non-lethal, effective methods of controlling the otters.

Cheers.

 

[JP2]

Kieth -- Could you please further explain the crab bait container with bleach???

 

[exmaggiedrum]

Gallons of otter poop

Our boat was not on a mooring but in a slip. Otters are a constant problem. If they can get on a boat they will. They seem to especially like boats covered in canvas. I cleaned up (literally) over three gallons of poop out of the cockpit one day. And a gallon another day. Fish and crab parts (which smell really nice left out for a while). They also left hair on every thing, which, after it dried in poop was like trying to remove epoxy.



They are athletic and can jump pretty high. They would have no problem climbing up fenders. We had high freeboard. I moved the boat away from the slip as far as I could and still get on (with long arms and legs) so they couldn't jump from the slip floats. I pulled up the fenders as high as possible. They never got back on.



They can get under canvas if any loose holes between fasteners are to be had and they can get to them. A swim step is an otter's dream. You might consider having a very tight cover put on over the swim step at a steepish angle so they can't get a purchase. And they love dinghys too so they have to be high or tightly covered.



They are fun to watch but varmints when on boats.

 

[FoxtrotCharlie]

We even have them on our private 23-acre lake in North MS - but they are so damn cute to watch. But if they were messing with our big boat on the TennTom, I think the pad with screws sticking up on the swim deck would be the answer.

 

[rsn48]

I haven't read all the responses but how about those motion detectors that sprays water. I know Otters are water bound but the force of the spray may be a deterrent especially for your swim grid. We have harbour seals at the Comox marinas and they will leave presents.

 

[AlaskaProf]

Handel's Water Music?

Take Me To the River.

 

[WayneDana2]

They mostly come at night. Mostly.

LOL. Aliens!

 

[Benthic2]

I wonder if a mesh bag ( or nylon or sock ) with one of those little pucks you put in your toilet tank would work ? They are strong and last weeks in water so they slowly leech out their chemical every time it rained or water washed over your swim platform.

 

[hollywood8118]

Handel's Water Music?

If that deters them just imagine what a little five finger death punch would do! ( but personally the Handel would get me out of there in a hurry)
HOLLYWOOD

 

[OldDan1943]

statically placed lengths of barbed wire.

 

[bfloyd4445]

monofilament netting is deadly to many marine animals and otters will surely tear it up they are obligate carnivores not herbivores like deer.

 

[ehirtz]

Otters don’t like bleach

Keith.

I have a jar style, plastic crab bait container with a perforated, screw-on, lid, and I just put a couple of cups of bleach in it and strap the container to the dock beside the boat. You could use any kind of container like an old yogurt container with holes drilled in the top. As long as they can smell the bleach it seems they stay away. If you tie it to the dock or the boat deck it won’t get knocked over.

If you have a covered area you can just use laundry detergent powder, which I’ve used in the boathouse. That combined with a radio going 24/7 seems to deter them. I’m not sure which is most effective; the soap or the noise, but in any case they never came back in the boathouse.

 

[Olebird]

https://www.bama-bucks.com/steakhouse-wild-game-restaurant -- Possum maybe - Armadilo (Possum on the half shell)!! Scottsboro's five star restaurant is BK! LOL

 

[rsn48]

The Psych Ops guys use heavy metal to disturb the bad guys. You could try this music out and it should drive the otters away, or your neighbours away, or a lynching, whichever comes first.

 

[menzies]

The Psych Ops guys use heavy metal to disturb the bad guys. You could try this music out and it should drive the otters away, or your neighbours away, or a lynching, whichever comes first.

A lynching?

 

[OldDan1943]

A lynching?

Music in the cockpit while tied to the dock, in my mind, is a NO-NO. We do not have the same taste in music, hence the "lynching".

 

[rsn48]

Music in the cockpit while tied to the dock, in my mind, is a NO-NO. We do not have the same taste in music, hence the "lynching".

++

 

[Fr8dog61]

I would think that given an otter’s diet of fish that they wouldn’t taste very good. After all, diving ducks such as scaup, canvas backs, and redheads aren’t nearly so palatable as puddle ducks such as mallards.

 

[bfloyd4445]

I would think that given an otter’s diet of fish that they wouldn’t taste very good. After all, diving ducks such as scaup, canvas backs, and redheads aren’t nearly so palatable as puddle ducks such as mallards.

chuckle...I've yet ti find any waterfoul palatable...maybe thats why the name, water-FOUL

 

[ORIF]

An otter likes nothing better to leave a deposit on than a coiled up dock line.

I had problems with them on my dock and in addition to their scat, found the same evidence as you did with "fish faces" everywhere.

Read on a critter site that a slurry of citronella and cayenne pepper is a good deterrent for them. I poured that mixture on some old dock lines and a small towel and put those out on the dock.

Worked for me for almost a year. Noticed the other day that it looks like I need to re-dose.

I haven't tried the Tide option mentioned above. That may be a better option if you're putting it on your boat but could get slippery.

 

[firehoser75]

Yesterday, I had interesting encounter while at the docks. One of these brazen little devils, jumped into the water and swam directly at me (I was standing on my swim grid watching them) to within a couple of feet, actually snarled and hissed at me before diving underwater!
I have never seen one of them act so aggressively. I do often "shoo" them off the dock when I see them, but did not do so yesterday. This behaviour is a bit concerning, as often there are as many as 7 of them (larger adults) on the dock in a group. Interesting, and I will definitely "keep an eye" on them and their behaviour.

 

[koliver]

Yesterday, I had interesting encounter while at the docks. One of these brazen little devils, jumped into the water and swam directly at me (I was standing on my swim grid watching them) to within a couple of feet, actually snarled and hissed at me before diving underwater!
I have never seen one of them act so aggressively. I do often "shoo" them off the dock when I see them, but did not do so yesterday. This behaviour is a bit concerning, as often there are as many as 7 of them (larger adults) on the dock in a group. Interesting, and I will definitely "keep an eye" on them and their behaviour.

You have met the leader. He is tasked with clearing the place where they plan to meet for lunch, but you were in the way.