Oscar, Who's Not A Grouch Is Coming To Western North Carolina Nature Center

By Sarah Odem

Ashville, NC - On Saturday, November 8th, the WNC Nature Center welcomes Oscar the Otter to join Olive in the Otter Enclosure at the Center, 75 Gashes Creek Road in East Asheville. The grand unveiling FOR EXISTING FRIENDS OF THE NATURE CENTER ONLY begins at 9 a.m. At 10 a.m., the general public will be welcomed. For admission prices and directions, please visit wildwnc.org.

Oscar was acquired from a wildlife facility in Minnesota. He was captive born and hand raised. He arrived here in August of 2008 and is now 6 months of age. Staff here at the Nature Center has worked with Oscar on a daily basis to get him used to his new home. He has passed his initial veterinary exams with flying colors and we hope that he will provide the needed companionship to our female otter, Olive. The last few weeks have seen us introducing him to Olive before the Center opens each morning.

The River Otter habitat is one of the Nature Center's most popular exhibits. Because otters remain playful even as adults, both young and old visitors delight in watching our otters as they swim, dive, and wrestle in their natural-looking enclosure. The Nature Center's otters are fed a mixture of fresh trout and a commercially prepared zoo diet for carnivores.

The River Otter is an aquatic member of a group of animals known as Mustelids. Other Western North Carolina mustelids are the skunk, weasel, and mink. Members of this family are characterized by the presence of strong-smelling anal glands which are used for communication between individuals and sometimes for defense. River Otters are long, muscular, and very streamlined animals, well adapted for their aquatic existence. The brown to brownish-gray fur is short and water repellent. The ears are small and lie flat against the side of the head. An otter's feet are strongly webbed and the tail is long and rudder-like. A clear, third eyelid, called a nictitating membrane, covers the otter's eyes when swimming underwater. This gives protection to the eye but allows the otter to see clearly. A typical adult otter weighs between 11 and 23 pounds and can measure 3 to 4 feet in length.  

River Otters are very agile swimmers and are one of the few animals that seem to spend much of their time actually playing. Their long, supple bodies enable them to quickly twist, turn, roll, and dive as they seem to glide effortlessly through the water. River otters can be found in a variety of freshwater habitats including streams, rivers, lakes, ponds, and marshes. They are most active at night. Otters feed on fish, snakes, turtles, frogs, crayfish and almost anything else they can catch. Otter dens are often dug into the bank of a stream or they may utilize an old beaver lodge, muskrat house, or even a hollow tree. They usually give birth to 2 to 4 young in early spring.

River Otters have declined in many areas where they were once common. Uncontrolled trapping, water pollution, and other forms of habitat destruction have contributed to this decline. In North Carolina, River Otters are still common in the eastern coastal plain, with much fewer found in the Piedmont region and almost none in the western mountains. A reintroduction project to restore River Otter populations in the mountains was recently begun by the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission. Otters from eastern North Carolina were trapped and later released along major rivers including the Catawba and the French Broad. These new populations seem to be faring well and there is evidence that they have spread far from the original release sites. Another reintroduction project of River Otters has taken place in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Many of the streams and rivers in western North Carolina are actually much cleaner now than they were some decades ago, when the otter population first began declining here. If successful, reintroduction projects like these will hopefully restore a breeding nucleus of river otters that will eventually expand and reoccupy their former range.

How fitting that we welcome Oscar to the Nature Center at the same time that this region welcomes new wild otters in rivers throughout! Come by on November 8th to catch a glimpse of what you one day might see in the wild!

The Nature Center’s mission is to educate the public about the flora and fauna of Western North Carolina and foster an interest in the conservation of native plants and animals. The Nature Center serves 27 counties in western North Carolina and each year welcomes 100,000 visitors through its doors. It is operated by the Parks, Recreation and Cultural Arts Department of the City of Asheville. The Friends of the WNC Nature Center was incorporated in 1974 and has over 2200 members who support its activities on behalf of the Nature Center.  For more information on the Friends, contact Sarah Oram, Director, at 298-5600 ext. 308.