I love otters, they're so incredibly cute. Seeing them in the wild is wonderful but very difficult so seeing them in the zoo has to be the next best thing.
These are part of the Asian Short Clawed Otter family at Chester Zoo, these were super excited as it was feeding time and as well as some tasty roach they were chomping down some delicious Crayfish.
How much cuteness can you stand?
This family of short clawed Asian Otters were the most cute creatures at the zoo, they were running around squeaking and generally having a fun time and the adults were being the most attentive parents the whole time.
I think this makes a fabulous family portrait.
One evening I had gone out onto the lake with my daughter for the first time and as we paddled around the island we saw a couple of otters paddling away towards the reed bed. I was absolutely thrilled and we paddled towards them to get a closer look. Unfortunately I didn't have my large zoom on my camera and so I wasn't able to get any pictures of them.
The following morning we set off again, our friends had been out before us and said that there was no sign of any otters so I didn't really expect to see any. I was focused on capturing some good shots of the eagles and I had rigged up a makeshift camo for my lens using a t-shirt because the previous day the birds had been spooked by the lens and had flown off before I got close enough . This time I was able to get much closer.
As we approached the island we could see through the crystal clear water and we saw lots of clams on the lake bed, many of the shells had holes in them and we worked out that this was a sign that the otters had been feeding on them. Then really close by this beautiful mother otter and two kits appeared in front of us playing in the water. They kept at a safe distance and as we paddled towards them they swam a little further away but they kept playing so clearly they weren't too afraid. As they were moving and I was in the canoe it was difficult to get a really steady shot but I was able to get one or two good ones.
This really was one of the unexpected highlights of my trip and is a memory I will treasure.
