Inside Lancashire Sport

Hi Martin,

Being close season a friend and myself went down to our local river - the Calder - in our dinner hour to see if we could see the shaul of chub marauding around from above the bridge but could not see any which we have done previously.

We looked on both sides but none to be seen. We were ready to go when the water rippled on the river bank below and an otter emerged with an eel in its mouth, which probably explained why the chub weren't there. It ran towards us until it heard the excitment in our voices, looked at us and dashed back the other way and hid under a boulder.

This must be a rare sight to see around here but shows that water is cleaner than it used to be. Talking to friends, they questioned and said that it may have been a mink. But I have seen these before and there was no mistaking the differences between the two.

In your experiences and expeditions have you seen any otters on the Calder?

Best regards

Shane.

Dear Shane

Yes, there is a chance of seeing the odd otter on the River Calder. I haven't seen an otter on the Calder, though I have seen an otter spraints at Calder Foot.

There are plenty of mink -  the mink is the biggest killer in the countryside. It has caused the decline of the Water Vole countrywide. The mink does terrible damage to ground nesting birds and song birds.

I am disappointed that the Government hasn't ordered a cull on this killer.

We wiped out the Coypu rat which was a vegetarian.

Kind regards

Martin.