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CLOUDY Temp: 58 °F Wind: WNW at 7 mph Saturday, June 1, 2002 SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map EXTRA Cyberchef E The People Golf Job Network Headbone Zone Wellness Connection Movie Times Newspaper in Education Oregon CarZone Outdoor Journal Personals Prime Times Real Estate Tempo A & E TV Times W3 Magazine CLASSIFIEDS Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Find Everything E SOUTHERN OREGON Destinations Automotive Communities Employment Entertainment Publications Real Estate Recreation Shopping Calendar ABOUT US FAQ What's New Advertise Home Delivery Classified Ad Contact Us Media Kit Jobs @ Mail Tribune Email Story to a Friend May 29, 2002 Since You Asked River otters live all over the place Over the past three decades of fishing the Rogue River, I have observed families of river otters. They were always downstream of Grants Pass. A little over a year ago, I observed a family in the vicinity of Valley of the Rogue State Park. Is it possible these animals swamp over Savage Rapids Dam? Where else could they come from? — Milt B., Central Point River otters are scattered throughout the Rogue Basin, and they are much more mobile than most people think. These little critters live in all sorts of different creeks, rivers, lakes and ponds, and they can either swim or walk between them, says Simon Wray, a nongame wildlife biologist for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. There are otters in the upper Rogue, and Wray once saw one in a pond outside his office at the Denman Wildlife Area. Chances are that the increase in otter sightings has something to do with the increase in streamside riparian protection in streams throughout Southern Oregon, Wray says. There are no population estimates, but otters have a long history here and it is still legal to trap them for their fur, provided you get a special permit. Trapping numbers for Jackson and Josephine counties ebb and flow from nine animals two years ago to 44 last year. But Wray warns that trapping numbers are effected more by pelt prices than population, Wray says. As for traversing Savage Rapids Dam, an otter could swim the dam’s fish ladders. But any otter that wanted to get past the structure likely would hike around it, Wray says. Send questions to "Since You Asked," Mail Tribune Newsroom, P.O. Box 1108, Medford, OR 97501; by fax to 541-776-4376; or by e-mail to [email protected] Printer Friendly Version Email Story to a Friend Subscribe Archive: Click to Search Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright 1997-2002 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy web master feedback A D V E R T I S E R S