Wednesday, May 05, 2010

Just Otters

This is a super overdued entry, but decided to post it anyway, since it was a really exciting experience for me. Went to Sungei Buloh in March with Peiting and Jiayi, and we were really lucky that the Smooth Otters (Lutrogale perpicillata) decided to stay around the Visitor Centre area for like 4 hours!

Smooth Otters (Lutrogale perpicillata)
We first spotted 3 otters as they were swimming down stream towards the main bridge.

Smooth Otter (Lutrogale perpicillata)
After playing in Sungei Buloh Besar for a while, they went to a nearby disused prawn farm for breakfast. One of them caught a fish rather quickly, and we were really lucky that it decided to eat the fish near the trail.

Smooth Otter (Lutrogale perpicillata)
It was startled by an egret which landed quite close to it.

Smooth Otter (Lutrogale perpicillata)
It decided to swim nearer to the edge of the pond to continue its meal.

Smooth Otter (Lutrogale perpicillata)
It was partially blocked by some vegetation though, and I tried to move around to get a better shot of it.

Smooth Otter (Lutrogale perpicillata)
Ahh...

Smooth Otter (Lutrogale perpicillata)
Um....

Smooth Otter (Lutrogale perpicillata)
Soon, the entire head of the fish was gone...

Smooth Otter (Lutrogale perpicillata)
Then half of it... The otter ate really fast...

Smooth Otter (Lutrogale perpicillata)
Eventually, only the tail was left, and it quickly finished it too.

The otters hunted and fed in the pond for more than an hour.

Smooth Otters (Lutrogale perpicillata)
After the meal, it was time for a nap!

Smooth Otter (Lutrogale perpicillata)
They rolled about for a while, and one of them got a little restless and decided to do a bit of scratching.

Smooth Otters (Lutrogale perpicillata)
Another otter soon joined them, and they decided to head into the freshwater pond for some fun!

Smooth Otter (Lutrogale perpicillata)
But before the fun started, it was always good to do a bit of cleaning up.

Smooth Otter (Lutrogale perpicillata)
And tossed the head to get a wild-looking "hairstyle" to prepare for the show.

Smooth Otters (Lutrogale perpicillata)
And then, round 1 began!

Smooth Otters (Lutrogale perpicillata)
There were lots of slapping and pushing...

Smooth Otters (Lutrogale perpicillata)
And biting as well...

Smooth Otters (Lutrogale perpicillata)
But sometimes, the fight turned a little "romantic"...

Smooth Otters (Lutrogale perpicillata)
Until a third party decided to join in...

All in all, it was great fun for them, I think, and at the same time, great photo opportunities for us nature-lovers who were fortunate enough to witness this scene!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

wow.... thats lucky to catch such nice pics of the otters...