Otter's stealing crab
- Thread starter saltydawg
- Start date
Can't comment on keeping them out but I've had a couple get trapped inside and drown in some shallow placed commercial style traps. They're definitely culprits so you may just need to go deeper.
I find it tough to believe they're taking legal crabs out of the traps as they're designed to prevent this. Likely they just lurk overtop and pick off all the crabs it attracts making it hard to do anything.
I find it tough to believe they're taking legal crabs out of the traps as they're designed to prevent this. Likely they just lurk overtop and pick off all the crabs it attracts making it hard to do anything.
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We sometimes have our traps down in Sooke Basin to the West of Sunny Shores not too far from what I call the Otter Beach where a large family of Otters live, that is if they are not over hanging around the docks at SS.
Two years back there was a very large Otter jumping up on the cleaning station in the blink of an eye and stealing fish and some antidotal stories of them opening larger coolers to grab a salmon (has not happened to us).
We had one of the heavy stainless steel door drop down tines broken in half on a large heavy duty commercial style crab trap which was down not far from the Otter beach and I suspect an Otter got stuck on it going after crabs in the trap and broke it to escape. They are tough, strong, lightening fast beasties and I would not choose to mess with one.
There are a lot of harbor seals there also who hang around when you are changing and throwing out old crab bait and undersized and female crabs but I don’t know if they actually go after the crabs in the traps or the crabs that get thrown back. Don’t even know if Seals eat crabs, but Otters do.
We put a plastic tie on the lid to the traps and yes it is done in a way so that the rot cord still works to release the lid. I think Otters are smart enough to pull the stretchy closure hook off the trap to open the lid and get at the crabs if you do not have a plastic tie. They have almost human like dexterity with their little hands. It also tells us if some HUMAN Otters have opened the trap to do a little trap raiding, that is if the plastic tie or lid rot cord has been cut.
My advice would be get the heavy duty commercial welded stainless traps and put plastic ties on the lid hook to seal the trap while still allowing the rot cord to work to keep DFO happy.
Two years back there was a very large Otter jumping up on the cleaning station in the blink of an eye and stealing fish and some antidotal stories of them opening larger coolers to grab a salmon (has not happened to us).
We had one of the heavy stainless steel door drop down tines broken in half on a large heavy duty commercial style crab trap which was down not far from the Otter beach and I suspect an Otter got stuck on it going after crabs in the trap and broke it to escape. They are tough, strong, lightening fast beasties and I would not choose to mess with one.
There are a lot of harbor seals there also who hang around when you are changing and throwing out old crab bait and undersized and female crabs but I don’t know if they actually go after the crabs in the traps or the crabs that get thrown back. Don’t even know if Seals eat crabs, but Otters do.
We put a plastic tie on the lid to the traps and yes it is done in a way so that the rot cord still works to release the lid. I think Otters are smart enough to pull the stretchy closure hook off the trap to open the lid and get at the crabs if you do not have a plastic tie. They have almost human like dexterity with their little hands. It also tells us if some HUMAN Otters have opened the trap to do a little trap raiding, that is if the plastic tie or lid rot cord has been cut.
My advice would be get the heavy duty commercial welded stainless traps and put plastic ties on the lid hook to seal the trap while still allowing the rot cord to work to keep DFO happy.
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trophywife
Crew Member
Sea otters are awful. You've probably seen the image macros floating around Facebook, exclaiming over how they hold hands while they sleep to make sure they don't drift apart. Well, that true. But then, they also rape baby seals. As it turns out, sea otters are some of the biggest sickos of the animal kingdom.
It takes a lot of resources to feed an otter - they need to eat approximately 25% of their body weight every single day. When food is in short supply things can get ugly. Some males will hold otter pups hostage until the mother pays a ransom of food to the male.
But they don't just kidnap babies. Sea otters also rape baby seals to death. Male otters will find a juvenile harbor seal and mount it, as if he were mating with a female otter. Unfortunately, part of the mating process involves holding the female’s head under water which ultimately kills the seal pups (and over 10% of female otters). For over an hour and a half, the male otter will hold the seal pup in this position, raping it until it is dead. Sometimes when the seal pup dies, it is just let go and the otter will begin to groom itself. Some otters, however, will hang on to the dead pup and continue to rape its dead and decaying corpse for up to a week later.
Sea otters aren't even the scariest otters, believe it or not. In South America 6-foot long river otters still exist. And they hunt in packs.
found this article on the web
It takes a lot of resources to feed an otter - they need to eat approximately 25% of their body weight every single day. When food is in short supply things can get ugly. Some males will hold otter pups hostage until the mother pays a ransom of food to the male.
But they don't just kidnap babies. Sea otters also rape baby seals to death. Male otters will find a juvenile harbor seal and mount it, as if he were mating with a female otter. Unfortunately, part of the mating process involves holding the female’s head under water which ultimately kills the seal pups (and over 10% of female otters). For over an hour and a half, the male otter will hold the seal pup in this position, raping it until it is dead. Sometimes when the seal pup dies, it is just let go and the otter will begin to groom itself. Some otters, however, will hang on to the dead pup and continue to rape its dead and decaying corpse for up to a week later.
Sea otters aren't even the scariest otters, believe it or not. In South America 6-foot long river otters still exist. And they hunt in packs.
found this article on the web
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Ouch! I may hate seals, but not quite enough to wish this on them...
Sangstercraft
Well-Known Member
Ducks have been known to do some sick things with other dead ducks too: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6k01DIVDJlY
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