Ouch

  

This is a follow-up to my last post on River Otters...and a bit of a puzzle.  I had to sort through some photos, but when I was looking at some of them I realized the mother otter had a fairly serious injury.  In the photo above, you can see several oblong lacerations in a row, and I think there was at least 1-2 more of those on her rump and near the base of the tail.  You can also see another larger laceration closer to her mid-section (in front of her hind leg).  

I'm not sure what caused these injuries, but my first thought was wondering whether it could have been a shark.  Researchers at UC Santa Cruz have documented an increase in sea otters with shark wounds (and years ago I found one sea otter on a local beach that had been bitten by a shark), but I haven't heard about shark bites and River Otters.  Have you?  Or can you think of other possible causes for this type of injury?  I'd be interested in any feedback.

If you are concerned about the otter, I'll note that she appeared to be active — swimming and catching fish (for herself and her pups) despite the injury.  And I also saw her the next day (more parts of this story to come!).