Foreword: I have recently learnt of the notion of capitalising all words in species common names, which actually makes it easier to understand what the species name is, and what is just a description of an individual, e.g. the red fox, which is a fox which is coloured red, versus the Red Fox, a species of fox. So that is what I will be doing from now on.

Please read this post for more information: http://analternativenaturalhistoryofsussex.blogspot.com/2021/08/why-english-names-of-species-should.html

Firstly, What is a Eurasian Otter?

Eurasian Otters are part of the Carnivora Order, meaning that they are, albeit distantly, related to Tigers and Mongooses! They are actually within the Caniformia Suborder, so are actually more closely related to Bears and Wolves, as well as the Domestic Dog.

Some Characteristics of Eurasian Otters include being:

• cute

• adorable

• friendly

• charismatic

• nice

Map of Otter Records

Please zoom to see details

Records taken from 2015 to present

Heat map showing Eurasian Otter records in the UK from 2015 to 2021

It seems that there is an easy solution to the North/South divide of England: Otter records! There is a lovely band of few Otter records that span from Lincolnshire right through to Liverpool.

One of the main things to note is the somewhat desolate absence of Otter records in the South East of England. A hopeful reason for this would be down to a lack of recorders; however, since the records are over a six year time period, this is unlikely.

There are also very few records of Otter in the South West, although there are more than in the South East.

I hope you enjoyed reading this (very) brief introduction to where Eurasian Otters are in the UK!

Please let me know what you think about Eurasian Otter distribution in the UK!

References

• NBN Atlas website at http://www.nbnatlas.org Accessed 24 November 2021.
• Header Otter Photograph Kieren Ridley https://kierenridley.darkroom.tech/ Accessed 29 November 2021