River otter tracks found along Sunday Creek north of Glouster are the first reported signs of the species in that Athens County watershed in more than a century, according to a WOUB report republished by the Athens County Independent.
Joe Brehm, co-chief executive officer of Rural Action, spotted the tracks weeks before the Oct. 29 report while hiking. He also reported seeing otter tracks along the Hocking River. Brehm said the find suggests long-running efforts to improve water quality in streams damaged by abandoned-mine runoff are producing results. Otters are an indicator species, he noted, so their presence implies suitable conditions for the animals they eat.
Katie Dennison, a wildlife biologist with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, said Ohio otters were likely rare or absent by the early 1900s, though an exact extirpation date is unknown. Industrial development, river alterations, wetland loss, mine runoff and unrestricted trapping for pelts contributed to their decline, she said. State officials reintroduced otters in the late 1980s and early 1990s into four eastern Ohio watersheds, including the Grand River and Little Muskingum.
ODNR conducts annual tracking surveys, including two sites on Sunday Creek. Tracks were found at one of those sites for the first time earlier this year, according to the report. Dennison said otters remain elusive and often use dens or shelters made by other animals.