"Mystery" solved
Dec. 29th, 2006 03:40 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
otterfamilyMystery Male is a mystery no longer. I know who he is now. There's really only one possibility - Mystery has to be old "Chirper," the last survivor of the Funny Brothers who immigrated here beginning in 1998.
Although I initially thought he was a complete stranger, the mystery male from the start displayed an unmistakable familiarity with the bay. He was also very much at ease here, which is totally uncharacteristic of a true newcomer. But still, this obviously older otter was absolutely NOT a resident here in 2005. There were only two males in residence that year - Slick, and the yearling I called Spook - the youngest and last of the Funnies.
There was a possibility Mystery Male could be Complainer - Little Mama's only male offspring who survived to adulthood. Complainer would have been 10 years old in 2006, which was about the age Mystery appeared to be. But it couldn't be him. For one thing, Complainer had a faint but noticeable mark under his nose that was becoming increasingly darker with age. Mystery Male, however, has a completely plain muzzle. Additionally, Complainer had a blunt tailtip like his elder sister, Scoots. Mystery Male's tail comes to a sharp point.
So, given the fact that this apparently strange elder male was completely "at home" in the bay, he had to have lived here at some point, but who other than Complainer could he be? He could only be one of the Funnies. There were four Funnies altogether: Little Beady, Chirper, Buck and Spook. Little Beady was killed right before my eyes by a fisherman at the pier in February 2002. Buck and Chirper both vanished in 2004, and Spook wasn't seen again after the end of 2005. Buck had a distinctively curly tail like old Giant, but Mystery has a normal tail, and Mystery was far too old to be Spook. So there's really only one possibility remaining. Mystery Male must be Chirper. I don't know where he was for the year-plus that he was gone, but Chirper is definitely back to stay now.
Although I initially thought he was a complete stranger, the mystery male from the start displayed an unmistakable familiarity with the bay. He was also very much at ease here, which is totally uncharacteristic of a true newcomer. But still, this obviously older otter was absolutely NOT a resident here in 2005. There were only two males in residence that year - Slick, and the yearling I called Spook - the youngest and last of the Funnies.
There was a possibility Mystery Male could be Complainer - Little Mama's only male offspring who survived to adulthood. Complainer would have been 10 years old in 2006, which was about the age Mystery appeared to be. But it couldn't be him. For one thing, Complainer had a faint but noticeable mark under his nose that was becoming increasingly darker with age. Mystery Male, however, has a completely plain muzzle. Additionally, Complainer had a blunt tailtip like his elder sister, Scoots. Mystery Male's tail comes to a sharp point.
So, given the fact that this apparently strange elder male was completely "at home" in the bay, he had to have lived here at some point, but who other than Complainer could he be? He could only be one of the Funnies. There were four Funnies altogether: Little Beady, Chirper, Buck and Spook. Little Beady was killed right before my eyes by a fisherman at the pier in February 2002. Buck and Chirper both vanished in 2004, and Spook wasn't seen again after the end of 2005. Buck had a distinctively curly tail like old Giant, but Mystery has a normal tail, and Mystery was far too old to be Spook. So there's really only one possibility remaining. Mystery Male must be Chirper. I don't know where he was for the year-plus that he was gone, but Chirper is definitely back to stay now.
