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This happened in Alaska in September. It is most odd and makes me wonder what is going on for animals like these to want to bother with humans. Maybe some disease like rabies perhaps? Maybe they were all raised by humans and thought of humans as a source for food (but unlikely three different events).
The part of the article which says "including one which injured a child" below might mean he was injured by the fall and NOT by the otter - we just dont know. It might be news reporting being dramatic.
Three otter attacks —including one which injured a child — were reported across the city in September, leading officials from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADFG) to ask residents to "be alert around local lakes and rivers."
Nine-year-old Ayden Fernandez was filming four otters in a duck pond with his brother when one of the animals split from its group and attacked him. He tripped and fell as he was chased, and the otter pounced on him.
"A 2011 analysis by the Oceanographic Environmental Research Societyfound that since 1875, people have reported 39 wild otter attacks across the United States.Of these, 15 took place in Florida alone, and 24 of the assailant otters had rabies. Otters usually only inflict minor injuries on humans and none of the attacks were fatal, but in one of the most extreme cases, a victim of a particularly brutal otter attack had to receive nearly 200 stitches. In a notable case in 2018, a 77-year-old Florida woman was viciously attacked by an otter while paddleboarding in Florida, Live Science previously reported."
One year in PA we had several beaver attacks and I believe all of those were cases where the animals had rabies. I had a muskrat come after me one time when duck hunting.
Between rabies, parents protecting their young, and shrinking habitats due to human incursions, I don't think there's any big mystery about otter attacks. They're carnivores with sharp claws and an impressive set of teeth, they eat a lot to maintain their body temps in the water, their diet includes small mammals among other things, and small dogs probably look like dinner.
And here we were all dreading the uprising for Planet of the Apes. Turns out it's going to be Planet of the Otters.
There otter be a way out of this. It really is like the Otter Limits.
Truth be told, I carry when I am out on my land. I have seen coyotes, and a number of other critters that could be carriers of rabies, as well as others I would rather deal with at distance.
There otter be a way out of this. It really is like the Otter Limits.
Truth be told, I carry when I am out on my land. I have seen coyotes, and a number of other critters that could be carriers of rabies, as well as others I would rather deal with at distance.
I was carrying both times that I think the animals had rabies. The muskrat that came after me did so when I had a loaded 10 gauge goose gun. Unfortunately, I had a noontime raccoon come after me when I had just fired my last 12 gauge round at a duck. My Model 12 still has a small piece missing out of the stock from that fight. It was one of the very few times I ever got to use my hand-to-hand military combat training. The raccoon never did bite me, but it was a very close call. The power and strength of the small animal also amazed me. It did not give up its attack until I finally killed it. That raccoon encounter occurred in the tall swamp grass and it is impossible to run away, it is physically too hard to move. I wished that I was otter there and on dry land when I had that encounter. A few extra shells would have helped but I was otter them.
OK really, can’t look at this anymore. So, if something untoward happens in here, please report it. Normally I’m reading everything but I really can’t read this anymore, I’m just freaking out.
I blame my mother. My sisters are seven and eight years older than me and my mothers favorite threat is you can’t do that you’ll get hydrophobia so when she was doing that to me, they already knew what hydrophobia really was and they told me. Kids can be really mean even your own sisters. So yeah, can’t deal with it.
And pretty much everything gave you hydrophobia. My mother didn’t like us playing in haylofts, where I grew up was kind of rural, a lot of my friends and relatives had haylofts — yeah playing in hayloft gave you hydrophobia. I mean it wasn’t everything. Not wearing socks and underwear gave you tuberculosis. I miss my mother, she was a hoot.
It’s one of the advantages of living where I live, we don’t really have it here. Where I grew up it was a real big issue.
So I’m out, so if anything happens please report.
__________________ Solly says — Be nice!
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Solly says — Be nice!
