OtterCam in the pipeline

Back in March I had a grand plan to video the otters catching frogs and eating them in the culvert.  It didn't work out because, unlike previous years, they caught very few frogs and didn't eat them in the culvert.  As part of the plan I crawled up the culvert at the beginning of March and fixed a trail camera to the roof to record from inside.  Soon afterwards we had heavy rain and there was too much water for me to risk going back in to retrieve the camera.  It was over two months before I could get it back.

I posted previously the videos from outside but here now are some from inside the culvert.  First a short compilation.  It starts with mother and one cub before the rain came, then a few clips with deeper water, so you see why I couldn't get back in (even the otters find it slippery).

Originally the other two cameras were on posts a few metres downstream but as the water subsided I moved one back to the downstream rim of the culvert.  It shows how unconcerned the otters are about the cameras, usually just sniffing as they pass.  And how the camera can be slow to react to a trigger, apparently not "seeing" the otter right in front of it.  As the camera is 120mm (5 inches) high we can also judge the height of an otter - it is small.

Lastly I was able to re-edit a video of the mother and two cubs fishing.  I posted this previously with views from only the downstream cameras.

The cubs have now left their mother so the cameras are only picking up solo otters at present.  I hope the mother will produce more cubs this summer so we may see them appear on the cameras at the end of the year.  I think the culvert roof camera has some potential, although I need a better way of getting it in and out.  Also I need the otters to read the script and eat the frogs in the culvert.  Maybe I'll try again next year.