J Scott Shannon (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
otterfamily) wrote2006-08-30 07:41 am
otterfamily) wrote2006-08-30 07:41 am
Entry tags:
Suspicions
I think someone around here is out to kill otters, and has occasionally succeeded. I've suspected this for years now, actually.
The decline of the otter family at Trinidad Bay can be easily explained–over the past decade, the females here simply failed to produce sufficient offspring to replace themselves. But why has the male clan declined, too? The wandering clan normally drew its recruits from all the various family groups in the local area, so even if the Trinidad family declined, as long as there was reproduction taking place in other otter families along this stretch of coast, the male group should continue to thrive.
But that's not what's happened–the male clan has disappeared, too. Indeed, the entire local population south of here is effectively gone now. Today, from Elk Head on the north to Little River to the south, there's no evidence of any functioning otter families along this coast anymore. The local population has been effectively extirpated. This didn't "just happen." I think someone's has been intentionally killing otters here, starting around 2002.
The decline of the otter family at Trinidad Bay can be easily explained–over the past decade, the females here simply failed to produce sufficient offspring to replace themselves. But why has the male clan declined, too? The wandering clan normally drew its recruits from all the various family groups in the local area, so even if the Trinidad family declined, as long as there was reproduction taking place in other otter families along this stretch of coast, the male group should continue to thrive.
But that's not what's happened–the male clan has disappeared, too. Indeed, the entire local population south of here is effectively gone now. Today, from Elk Head on the north to Little River to the south, there's no evidence of any functioning otter families along this coast anymore. The local population has been effectively extirpated. This didn't "just happen." I think someone's has been intentionally killing otters here, starting around 2002.