Anniversary
Jun. 6th, 2006 09:03 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
otterfamilyOn June 6, 1983, I saw my first otter in Trinidad Bay. Going there today, I anticipated an unhappy 23rd anniversary, but I was in for a pleasant surprise. I saw Slick! It was unquestionably him. He came up on the dock through his hole, he was calm and collected with people around, he had a plain face, he had precisely the amount of canine tooth wear I'd expect to see on a 4-year-old, he dove under the surface using only 1 hind leg for propulsion, and he ate precisely on the same 'spot' where his mom used to eat. Yay! So the 5th generation of Old Mama's line is carrying on after all. Seeing Slick tonight made me feel happier than I've felt in weeks.
I think I know what Slick has been doing away all this time. Often, after an otter disappears, the one most closely bonded to it vanishes, too. I don't know exactly where they go, of course, but I've supposed they are "searching the world" for any sign of their lost companion. They probably travel up and down the coast searching for the slightest sniff of the one they miss. Scoots vanished for a while after Little Mama was taken away, so it wouldn't be any wonder if Slick did the same, not finding any sign of his mother's presence here anymore.
So, it appears there are 3 males in residence this summer: Slick, Spook (3 years old now), and the old brown male whose identity is uncertain but who might be Complainer. It's still quite eerie not to have a family group here, though. This is the first summer in all the years I've been coming to Trinidad that there isn't at least one female in residence. It's a palpable and somewhat haunting absence...
I think I know what Slick has been doing away all this time. Often, after an otter disappears, the one most closely bonded to it vanishes, too. I don't know exactly where they go, of course, but I've supposed they are "searching the world" for any sign of their lost companion. They probably travel up and down the coast searching for the slightest sniff of the one they miss. Scoots vanished for a while after Little Mama was taken away, so it wouldn't be any wonder if Slick did the same, not finding any sign of his mother's presence here anymore.
So, it appears there are 3 males in residence this summer: Slick, Spook (3 years old now), and the old brown male whose identity is uncertain but who might be Complainer. It's still quite eerie not to have a family group here, though. This is the first summer in all the years I've been coming to Trinidad that there isn't at least one female in residence. It's a palpable and somewhat haunting absence...
