Tuesday 5 March 2013

A special thankyou to the fishermen of Coll

 I would like to say a very big thankyou to the fishermen of Coll for bringing in the finest fish for Otto. If it wasnt for them Otto would probably not be here today. All the best lads, I owe you one. 

Innes, John and Dougie who work on Tarka out on Coll and me olde matey Kenny MacIntyre with the mega ice age freezer.

Slainte!




Time for an update on all things Otterish.

The last few weeks have brought  bad weather for Otto's food suppliers ie Innes and Kenny. The boys havent managed to get out fishing for a while so Otto has been getting tucked into dog food and my personal supply of Pollock. Just when it looked like I was having to get my rod out, the weather changed for the better. The freezer is full again and hopefully a regular supply of fresh fish will be back on the menu.
I tried him on some Octopus again and he seemed to like it this time. I also tested him out on some Squat Lobster. At first he left them aside, but soon got the idea and devoured them leaving only the legs.
I've even been trying him out on fresh hens eggs, though for now he only seems to play with them. If I crack the eggs open he will eat them. I've even been dropping eggs into the burn! He dives for them and brings them up. He then rolls over onto his back with the egg between his forepaws and chest. After a short while he seems to get bored and moves onto something else.

Otto has been spending a lot of time away from home of late and only seems to come back when he is hungry. I only know he has been home when his fish dissapear. I have no idea where he goes or what he is getting up to. He was spotted near Ballyhaugh not long ago where he had a run in with 2 dogs....not to worry, everything was ok...sharp learning curve for Otto.

Today I managed to spend some time with him and watched as he dragged his breakfast, a big rockling, into the burn. He swam up the burn with the fish until he reached a large water pipe. He dragged the fish up the bank and into the pipe. The pipe is only about 10 - 15 feet long. He stayed in the pipe for a while munching and crunching away, so I reckon this must be one of his hides.

He looks healthy enough and seems to be getting bigger all the time. He is still very playful and sticks his big flat nose into everything!

'mon the Otto!!!


Otto the Road Warrior....duh!



Squat Lobster