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The infamous Otter 841, who gained international fame by harassing surfers and climbing on surfboards in the surf lineups in Santa Cruz, appears to have given birth. A photo of the possible mother and child was taken Tuesday by Mark Woodward, a local photographer whose been keeping tabs on Otter 841 since her rise to fame began. You can see the pup in the photo riding on top of 841's chest. Wildlife experts have yet to confirm the birth. Otter experts say the best way to help sea otters is to avoid getting too close to them and don't distract...

An otter with dreams of being a surf champion shocked Santa Cruz beach-goers when it swam right up to a group of surfers, picked out a board and went for a ride. The incredibly anthropomorphic encounter happened on Sunday at Cowell Beach near the boardwalk. Mark Woodward, who goes by Native Santa Cruz on Twitter, posted photos and video of the moment. Woodward wrote that the otter sniffed around a number of boards before settling on its favorite, a blue one. Advertisement “He was going from board to board and seemed calm and friendly even as he was a few...

WHIDBEY ISLAND, WASHINGTON — We want to emphasize that there is no definitive proof that the pilot of this plane was “vaccinated.” The company that operated the plane, however, frequently flies into Canada. All flight crews, pilots, truckers, passengers, etc. have been required to be fully vaccinated to travel in and out of Canada since January. Twelve of this particular plane’s final 29 flights went to Canada or originated in Canada (return trips).Based on what’s unfolded so far since the Sunday, September 4 plane crash in the Puget Sound, all anyone, including the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), can and...

A state known as The Last Frontier, partly due to its robust wildlife, is facing an unexpected menace. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game recently released a warning to Anchorage residents to stay alert around local lakes and rivers after incidents of group otter attacks. According to the department, on Sept. 1, a group of four river otters bit a child near Lake Otis. A few weeks later, officials received reports about a group of river otters chasing after a pet dog and biting the canine's owner near University Lake. On the same day at the same lake, an...

The man was swimming in Manzanita Lake on June 25 when he was bitten by a female river otter, park spokesman Kevin Sweeney told The Times on Tuesday. The man was hospitalized with “significant injuries,” including scratches and puncture wounds that caused bleeding, but they did not appear to be life threatening, Sweeney said. It is unclear what prompted the incident, but officials believe that the man may have gotten too close to the female otter’s kittens, prompting her to aggressively react.

Moose, You Otter Have Beavers Nearby July 9, 2019 | David F. Coppedge Once again, scientists conclude that beavers do a lot of good for other animals and plants. Beavers engineer their ecosystems in a way that helps moose and otters (New Scientist). When naturalists re-introduced beavers into parts of Finland, they noticed “increased activity of several species, including moose, otters, and weasels.”

A total of 10 expensive koi fish have now been killed and eaten by the otter as of Sunday morning; there were previously 14 adult koi living in the ponds at Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Park in Chinatown. As a result, staff at the Chinatown park have begun evacuating koi from the park’s ponds. On Saturday, crews moved in to begin rescue efforts. So far, only one fish has been moved to the Vancouver Aquarium for safekeeping; koi are also difficult to capture so it remains unclear how long the evacuation will take though crews are working to relocate the remaining...

A new Idaho law, signed Thursday by Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter, will provide better information about how many women are injured by abortions in Idaho each year. State House Bill 638 establishes a new state reporting system to track abortion complications and other abortion-related data in Idaho, Fox News reports. The data, which also will include the woman’s age, race and number of children, will be collected by the state Department of Health & Welfare and published in an annual report. Idaho Chooses Life celebrated Otter’s decision to sign the law. “We believe this is landmark legislation because, in coming...

77-year-old woman received stitches and treatments for rabies after a wild otter viciously attacked her while she was kayaking down a Florida river. ... "And then all of a sudden he jumped on the kayak and two seconds later he jumped on me." ...he 77-year-old said her hat was shredded, but added she was fortunate to be wearing a life jacket that protected her back. "By some miracle, I don't have any injuries on the top of my head,"

Governor C.L Butch Otter reluctantly signed SB 1389, the permitless "Constitutional carry" bill that was passed by the Idaho legislature. His office sent the transmittal letter(pdf) to the President of the Senate today, the 25th of March, 2016. Idaho becomes the eighth state to restore permitless or "Constitutional" carry. Vermont never restricted concealed carry from those who were not felons or mentally defective. Governor Otter stated that he signed the bill with some reluctance, because the bill did not have a training requirement for the carry of firearms. There has never been a legal requirement for training in order to...

[Idaho] Gov. Butch Otter signed two controversial bills into law today: The permitless concealed-carry bill, and the bill banning homeowner’s associations from restricting short-term rentals. He expressed concerns about the gun bill, but signed it nonetheless. The gun bill, SB 1389, allows Idahoans age 21 or older to carry concealed guns without a permit inside city limits. Otter proclaimed himself “a gun owner, a hunter and a lifetime member of the National Rifle Association,” but said nevertheless, he has concerns about the bill. “I am concerned about its lack of any provision for education and training of individuals who choose...

WOUNDED DEER, Massachusetts – Emily Dickinson College sophomore Fawn Liebowitz died suddenly last week in a kiln explosion on campus. Liebowitz, 20, a sociology major from Fort Wayne, Indiana, was tragically killed while firing a pot in the new kiln in Sylvia Plath Hall. “Messy” was how Wounded Deer Fire Chief Michael Redman described the scene of the accident. “It was hard to tell the pot shards from the body parts,” said the pyrodefense professional. “She just blew like a frog sucking on a cherry bomb,” Redman added. The cleanup of Plath Hall has been further complicated by a thin...

It was a fun time at the lake -- until the otter arrived. After spending about an hour swimming with friends in Bone Lake near Luck, Wis., on Saturday, Rory Kliewer began to climb a ladder onto a dock when she suddenly felt something bite her backside and thigh. "I thought it was a northern pike," the 12-year-old Minneapolis girl said Wednesday. "I thought a fish was after me." As she threw the creature off of her, she realized that the animal was an otter -- later estimated at 3 1/2 feet long and about 40 pounds. "It was a...

Bryce Moser, of Marysville, and his grandmother, Lelani Grove, were both expected to survive their injuries, family members said. Grove has "hundreds of stitches" and a significant eye injury, while Moser has nine staples in his head and cuts all over his body. "I just hear him screaming, 'Help! Get it off of me! Get it off of me!' and he goes underwater," said Moser's mother, Tabitha. "And then he comes up and I see the thing all the way on top of his head." "(The otter) had him by the back of his head and it was holding him...

The limited reform of Idaho's restrictions on bearing arms (SB 1254) was signed by Governor Butch Otter today, 12 March 2014.   The law removes the university imposed restrictions from retired peace officers and people who have received Idaho's enhanced concealed carry license.  Those two groups will now be able to carry concealed weapons on the public property of college and university campuses.  From KTVB.com:  The legislation allows a limited group of people to carry concealed weapons on college and university campuses. Supporters say the bill protects people's Second Amendment rights. It does not allow for concealed carry in resident...

A wounded otter ran amok in a fast food restaurant in western Norway on Tuesday, terrorising the restaurant's owners and giving the wildlife officer sent to subdue it a nasty nip on the finger. Ouch! Crab grabs otter by the eyebrow (08 Aug 13) The animal, which appeared to have been hit by a ferry propeller, lurched breathing heavily into Skippys Fast Food in Molde, near Ålesund, a large gash on one leg and damage to its face. The restaurant's owner, Mohamed Rashed, rang the police in panic. "We did not know what kind of animal it was. I have...

ANOKA, Minn.—A veteran triathlete had to get rabies shots after she was attacked and bitten 25 times by an otter in a northern Minnesota lake. Leah Prudhomme, 33, of Anoka, was doing a regular 1.5-mile training swim in Island Lake, 17 miles north of Duluth, on Wednesday evening. As she passed by a bog on the last stretch, she felt something bite her ankle to the bone: an otter. She screamed for help as her father and young children watched from the shore. Prudhomme sustained 25 bites—some more than 2 inches deep—before her father could rescue her in a boat...

Legislation introduced into Congress this week threatens to scuttle a deal to end a quarter-century exclusion of sea otters from Southern California waters. Rep. Elton Gallegly, R-Simi Valley, says HR 4043, the Military Readiness and Southern Sea Otter Conservation Act, aims to ensure the Navy can continue testing weapons on a remote Channel Island and to protect endangered abalone and the commercial shellfish industry. The move has angered sea otter advocates, who want to see the federally designated threatened marine mammal recover throughout its historic range, from Oregon to Baja, Mexico. The bill should be called "S.O.S., Sacrifice Otters for...

An out-of-control otter that has attacked two people and a dog in the past week has become public enemy number one in Boca Raton. Animal Care & Control and the Palm Beach County Health Department sent out an alert Monday warning people of the nasty otter that could be rabid, according to the Sun-Sentinel. The otter is behind an attack at the Boca Chase Development last Thursday on a an 8-year-old golden retriever named Chester, who escaped the encounter with just a few scratches. Two more attacks, this time on two people, happened Sunday morning. "The otter ran out and...

Contact phone number removed by me. -Cindy # Note: The following text is a quote: C.L. "BUTCH" OTTER GOVERNOR NEWS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE March 17, 2010 10:023 GOVERNOR SIGNS IDAHO HEALTH FREEDOM ACT (BOISE) – Hailing it as a reflection of public dismay with Washington, D.C., and a clear expression of State sovereignty, Governor C.L. “Butch” Otter welcomed legislative sponsors to his office at the Capitol today for the signing of House Bill 391 – the Idaho Health Freedom Act. “Congress and the White House are working out their scheme for pushing through a healthcare ‘reform’ bill that has...