Wednesday 1 July 2009

Burnet Moth





Lots of otter spraint under the bridge in the country park, plus the remains of a small bird - do otters take birds? There were also water vole droppings, and this rather nice moth. Six-spot burnet, I think; I haven't seen one since I was a child.

2 comments:

dave said...

Given the chance, or choice, I think it’s always fish, fish, fish. However, they will take the odd ducking, I believe, if that's what's on offer. They used to be big eel eaters but with their decline, and the advent of ponds and fishing lakes, they have a more varied diet now. I would imagine evolution has honed there digestive system to cope better with certain foodstuffs rather than others so I’m not sure how long they could survive without fish.

I read somewhere about otters scavenging in bins which suggests they'd go for carrion but that seems to be left to the magpies round here.

Kate said...

Yes, I've been thinking about this, and I reckon they're just being mustelids. Mink would take a fledgeling, weasels and stoat and polecats would too, so why shouldn't an otter? If a duckling wandered past its nose...