Re: Otters sighted

Otters are being reported along the Merced River corridor from Incline near El Portal to Yosemite Valley. The park does not have a lot of information on otters in Yosemite, so if you happen to see an otter or see otter tracks please try and take a picture, note the date and time and submit to Rob Grasso ([email protected]) or call 379-143.

So, last Thanksgiving we saw a tree that looked like a beaver had gone to work on it. This was maybe 1/2 mile downriver from the Lodge area on the north side valley loop trail. Would an otter have done this? We did some googling and it seems that beaver are known to exist in the Yosemite Valley area from time to time.

I would say that is a beaver, I don't think otters have the teeth structure to chew wood in that way. They have more dog-like teeth. Pretty awesome either way, I would love to see both!

Aint no otter got time for that.

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Best can do is this...



Seen them in Eleanor, Peninsula, and little lake near Twin, Fawn, and Huckleberry Lakes in Northern Yosemite.

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basilbop
Would an otter have done this?

No. Otters are carnivores (they eat crayfish, fish, frogs, and shellfish). They don't have the right kind of teeth for gnawing down a tree, and wouldn't have much use for the tree anyway.

Beavers are rodents and gnaw for a living. That gnawed tree looks like classic beaver work.

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basilbop
We did some googling and it seems that beaver are known to exist in the Yosemite Valley area from time to time.

Last spring or summer I noticed a beaver-downed tree at Mirror Lake. I couldn't tell how long it had been down -- maybe since 2013:

http://www.nps.gov/yose/blogs/Busy-Beaver-at-Mirror-Lake.htm