It is a couple of months since I reported on the activity on OtterCam. I have kept one camera in the culvert all the time because it is the most reliable place to see which otters are out and about, although it often doesn't show much in the way of interesting behaviour. It is also the one place that seems to be free of rats - elsewhere they can trigger dozens of recordings every night.
The one surviving cub is still with its mother but is now about 11 months old so it may be encouraged to seek its own way in the world fairly soon. In early October it was still usually close behind mother, as seen in this video.
Later in October junior was still in tow but was very distracted by something in the culvert, perhaps a strange smell.
Three hours later they returned but this time the cub was four minutes behind and was whistling loudly as it hurried to catch up. There is a jump in the video as the cub has to re-trigger the camera.
In November the cub has been consistently farther behind and doesn't appear in the same 20s video clip, but triggers the camera separately as it hurries to catch up. Here the mother is waiting and listening intently but eventually moves on, either not wanting to wait or because she can hear the cub is following.
The camera also saw a large single otter apparently fishing in the culvert on two consecutive days, although its prey is too small to be identified. My guess is that it was catching small fish. This may be a dog otter.
I will try an extra camera position soon to see if I can pick signs of the cub becoming independent.
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