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Letter to the editor

Otter out of water: A sad ending for a river creature

The mammal was probably drawn to its fate by an expanded habitat.

By THERESA BLACKWELL, Times Staff Writer
Published January 3, 2008

A dead otter was found near this bridge, where water flows under Court Street into Clearwater's Glen Oaks Park.
	[Douglas R. Clifford | Times]

ADVERTISEMENT [Scott Keeler | Times (2004)] Charlie, an orphaned North American river otter, was nursed back to health at the Clearwater Marine Aquarium after being found by a businessman in 2004.

CLEARWATER - It's no secret that Florida is the Land of Roadkill: armadillos, possums, raccoons, dogs and cats, even turtles.

But a dead otter?

Near downtown Clearwater?

Sad but true.

Sometime before 9 a.m. Wednesday, a river otter apparently tried to cross Court Street from one retention pond to another at Glen Oaks Park.

But the sleek mammal, so graceful in the water, was out of its element on the asphalt, where it apparently was struck and killed.

Ironically, the otter might have been drawn to its fate by a city project that expanded aquatic habitat next to Court Street, used by 32,500 cars and trucks a day.

A little more than a year ago, Clearwater officials completed a $7.6-million project that transformed the old 27-acre Glen Oaks Golf Course into a park with large, new ponds.

As part of the project, workers planted aquatic vegetation and added grasses along the shoreline. The retention ponds help filter pollutants from Stevenson Creek, which passes from one pond to another in a culvert under the roadway.

"It is a natural ecological setting," said Kevin Dunbar, the city's director of Parks and Recreation. "That was the whole idea."

The project increased habitat for wildlife like the gallinules, little blue heron and anhingas there Tuesday, as well as otters passing through on the hunt.

The otter could have passed safely through the culvert between the ponds. Animals usually find their way to those safe passageways, Dunbar said, like the alligators that move beneath U.S. 19 between Moccasin Lake Nature Park and the ponds near Bright House Networks Field.

"But, occasionally, one gets lost" in Florida's most densely populated county, he said.

"Unfortunately, things like this may happen from time to time when you are built out," Dunbar said. "Let's face it: otters are not used to crossing a road with cars going 40 mph."

Many other species have the same problem, said Jeanne Murphy, wildlife biologist at the Pinellas County Extension. Florida panthers and Florida bears, listed in Florida as endangered and threatened respectively, also die on roads.

As wildlife habitat is lost or fragmented by roads, protected greenways and travel corridors become more essential for preserving not only individual animals, but some species.

The otter's range is very linear, Murphy said, following the course of the waterways that are their homes. A member of the weasel family, the otter covers long distances to hunt, moving between bodies of water when needed. Playful, they often climb up the banks just to slide down again.

The otter "might have always gone up and over that way" to cross Court Street, she said. "It may have, for years, avoided getting hit by a car."

Theresa Blackwell can be reached at tblackwell@sptimes.com or 727 445-4170.

Fast facts

River otters

Length: Up to 3 feet, 7 inches, with a 16-inch tail.

Fur: Dense, dark brown, often with silvery chin and chest.

Legs: Short, with webbed feet. Runs well on land, loves to play.

Diet: Eats fish, frogs, turtles, crayfish, muskrats.

Breeding: Mates in the water, 1 to 5 pups born in dens near water in March or April.

National Audubon Society Field Guide to Florida.

[Last modified January 2, 2008, 21:16:58]