An otter they couldn't refuse... and she's rescued from the riverbank (From Bournemouth Echo)

An otter they couldn't refuse... and she's rescued from the riverbank

7:00am Wednesday 17th December 2008

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A delightful five-week-old otter cub has been rescued from North Dorset and is being cared for at a Poole wildlife centre.

The distressed orphan’s cries from the bank of a small stream were heard by a man working in a nearby office and his curiosity saved her life.

“He did the right thing,” said Nick Ridge, of Dorset Wildlife Rescue at Creekmoor. “She should have been in the holt. She shouldn’t have been in daylight until she was well on the way to being weaned.

“She would not have survived another freezing night out in the open. Crows or a fox would have had her. The caring chap who alerted us to the plight of this cub most certainly saved her life.”

The Good Samaritan caught her and kept her warm and safe until rescue centre volunteers arrived.

Otters give birth at any time of year, often to two or even three cubs, but despite a thorough search of the area, no sign of any other otter was found.

Cerridwen – named after a Celtic goddess – is the first otter Nick and Sandi have cared for, they are bottle feeding her and finding her a delight.

“She’s less trouble than a handful of foxes or badger cubs,” said Nick. “She is perfect. She has five feeds a day and sleeps all night. It’s better than having kids.”

At about three months old she will start to be weaned and will require a diet of troutlings, juvenile trout three to four inches long, and the rescue centre is appealing for fish farmers or hatcheries who may be able to help.

See all Sally Adam's pictures of Cerridwen here...

You can buy all these pictures by clicking the link under the photo in the top right corner

“We are so chuffed that these rare creatures are now back in Dorset, even if only in very small numbers but the joy at that news is of course tinged with sadness at the apparent loss of little Cerridwen’s mum,” said Sandi.

She will need care for many months yet but will eventually be returned to the wild.

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