This stunningly beautiful creature is ‘Cerridwen’ Very sadly she was orphaned at only five weeks old.
Otters have young at any time of the year, but this very cold snap must have made parenting especially tough. Quite what happened to mum is a mystery, but this beautiful young lady was truly fortunate to have been found by a very caring man who did everything just right. Before jumping in and rescuing her, he phoned for advice, and then expertly caught her and get her warm until our wonderful rescuers, Helen and Andy could get there to pick her up. She is doing well and her future looks bright, she is being bottle fed 5 times a day and will eventually be released back into the wild. Otter cubs can spend 12 or 18 months with mum, learning all there is know about being an otter, and so she will be a very welcome guest for sometime……….
As a footnote…… We are extremely grateful to Darren Butterworth of Trafalgar Fisheries of Fordingbridge who has donated free of charge, enough small trout to feed Cerridwen for many weeks once she’s weaned. As a volunteer organisation with very limited funds, his generosity is greatly appreciated…Many thanks Darren………
(The photo’s Sandi and I took of Cerridwen were distinctly rubbish, and so we are extremely grateful for these superb photographs taken by Sally Adams of the Bournemouth Echo)
