If I ran the zoo

A friend thought this was worth sharing and so do I:

“There’s a strange odor in the living room,” my daughter, a first-time mom with a newborn and an acute sense of smell, said. I knew at once that the crawlspace of our vacation rental had been homesteaded by some critter. Rats? Raccoons? I fervently hoped it would not be otters.

Pest control confirmed that a large animal had been making a lair. Not rats.

There was evidence of an entrance under the house. We closed it, blocked other potential ones and set up a surveillance camera.. That night we got video of a river otter going under the house, avoiding the blocked site.

Although there is a pond 500 feet away and a salt water beach about 200 feet away, we had never had problems like this over the past 47 years. Prior experience encountering them while boating or fishing had taught me that river otters can be formidable, aggressive and smart.

Google “Otter intelligence” and you will find many descriptions starting with the words .”.. among the smartest animals on Earth.” And, it should be said, “among the smelliest.” If you have ever dealt with one under your house or on your moored boat, you know. One cannot share a home with a river otter.

We tried harder, with cayenne pepper, heavy obstructions and closed openings. Over the next few nights the otter came, tearing its way under the house, moving bricks, tunneling under slabs of concrete, pulling off siding. She had pups and would do anything to reach them.

Calls for assistance confirmed there is no professional or state animal relocation program in San Juan County. Professionals trapping an otter must euthanize it and any pups, unless they have an expensive relocation license. There are no easy ways to relocate an otter on an island without making it someone else’s problem. So, no one has such a license.

Next, I called Wolf Hollow, based in Friday Harbor, a volunteer animal rescue service with many years of an excellent reputation. Penny, an understanding woman who knew the problem from personal experience, took my call. She recommended the following:

1 Simulating a predator’s urine, ammonia-soaked rags in plastic jugs with holes in them, placed strategically under the house.

2 High intensity LED lights under the house. Otters need their pups in darkness for protection.

3 A blue-tooth speaker under the house, near the lair, set to talk radio. They apparently hate noise, especially human voices.

4 Leave one easy exit open, away from the ammonia, sound and light, where the otter could escape unimpeded.

The first night we caught grainy footage of what looked like an otter with a pup in its mouth. She was relocating. There was no further activity the next few nights. We suspect she was able to remove other pups out of sight of the camera. We blocked all the entrances and watched for several days before claiming success and making the obstructions permanent.

Our thanks and appreciation to Wolf Hollow, for their patience, guidance and humane philosophy. We have gained new appreciation both for this intelligent creature and dedicated mother, as well as a habitat that continues teaching us humility after four decades.