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Otter sighted at beauty spot
THE Brechin Advertiser of June 2, 1942 contained the following article by Walter Reid of Glasgow, 'An otter sojourns at Craig Pool.'
"We 'loons' had never seen an otter, except in a picture book, and here in front of us a real otter we had seen in the flesh. A dead salmon, which was badly damaged, had attracted our attention, and while we were discussing the pros and cons of how the fish had been destroyed, up came an animal's head from out of the water.
"'Look, an otter over there,' one of our company shouted: but before one could say 'Jack Robinson' the head quickly submerged, appearing a few minutes later at a point farther down the river from where we had first seen it. We could not say whether it had sensed our presence or not. It appeared not to have done so, for it gave us a lovely exhibition of aquatic acrobatics, until, reaching a bend in the river, it vanished from view.
"Have you ever been to Craig Pool, that beauty spot on the banks of the South Esk to the east of Brechin? Well, this is where we met the otter. Craig Pool is a very deep pool, almost the width of the river at this part situated a little beyond where the Esk and East Mill lade waters rejoin.
"The Esk's banks here are composed of glacier rocks rising in rugged formation to a height that greatly adds to the beauty of the scene, and crowning the cliff-top grow some fine pine, fir, larch, oak and beech trees.
"The deep pool far below - the waters, slowly edging towards the stream, end up with rapid-like rush, answering the call of the North Sea a few miles farther on - complete the imposing picture of Craig Pool.
"The otter had chosen a secluded hunting preserve, and the rock surroundings provide many "holts" or burrows to rest in.
"Fish seeking the upper reaches of the Esk must pass through Craig Pool. Many a fine salmon, sea-trout and common trout have been fished from the pool; so the otter would be in its element hunting these waters, which are so deep and where the casting shadows darken the water's depth to pit-like absym.
"Around this district we loons would prowl on a summer eve - that was the way we spent out leisure hours after a day's work was done - each worked in mill, factory, and bleachfield. We never gave a thought about the word trespass - the word was not to be heard in our vocabulary, though trespass we did.
"Many a time we had been man-hunted by the local gamekeepers, chasing us back on to the highway. Wonder now, if he ever knew of the otter at Craig Pool? It was a trespasser worth capturing, and would have made a better prize than us, for it might have put them in the news. We never stopped to ask if they knew; so we never told. But we wondered if we would see our otter again on the morrow.
"Luckily we did see the otter on the following evening, and for almost half-an-hour we watched its antics in the water. Up it would come to breathe, down into the depths of the pool it dived, hunting fish we supposed - fish being its main food, while plentiful.
"Recalling our natural history lessons of school days, we remembered the story about the otter and its habits. Teacher informed the class that the otter had originally been a land animal, and in the struggle for existence in an early competitive world, it had through generations, gradually adapted itself to live and hunt in rivers and loch or lake
" The otter developed web feet and, aided by physical structure, became an excellent swimmer and diver. It dives into the water without making the slightest sound; there is no splash, and very little ripple while it is entering the water.
"A coat of fur protects it in and out of the water. Hunts mostly at night, and sleeps in a 'holt' or burrow."So much for the natural history lesson.
"True to a word, as we now know, having since seen otters in zoos - Edinburgh Zoo, for instance. Also we were told that the otter was becoming scarce in the British Isles, because man hunted it for the fur pelt; and gamekeepers destroyed it as a pest, poaching on fishing preserves, and when it caught fish it ate only the best parts of the fish, so was destructive. And, like all carnivores, it killed for the mere joy, of the hunt and the taste of blood.
"The presence of this otter at Craig Pool set us the question, were otters more numerous in the country - the War of 1914-18 was on at the time we write of, so we came to the conclusion that the war had something to do with presenting us with an otter.
"Recently we read that in the Western Highlands the wild cat was increasing in numbers. Why not the otter? The wild cat was increasing, so we read, because gamekeepers in the Western Highlands were being called up to the fighting services, thereby depleting the staffs on the preserves, hence more wild cats.
"Our company, sworn to secrecy not to divulge the finding of the otter in the vicinity, had for about two weeks the opportunity of observing the otter and its manners.
"It had certainly been destroying fish, so much so, that other trespassers like ourselves were beginning to talk about the destruction, but they never mentioned having seen an otter, and so could not understand the cause. We never told until long afterwards.
"At the end of the second week we saw no more of the otter. As it came, it went. For weeks after we watched, but there never was any sign of it. No fish lay about; it surely must be gone to some other hunting ground or so we hoped.
"We never heard of it being shot or trapped, as we certainly should have done had it happened. The otter is a nomad of the river, and where-ever it is found there is fish."
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Thursday 09 February 2012
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