River otters feed on small fish, crayfish and turtles, and thus “are an important part of river systems in keeping those populations in control,” says Mark Howery, a non-game biologist for the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation.
And, Howery says, “they are often a species that people find very endearing. They enjoy watching them and having them around.”
But as with most wild animals, it’s a case of look, but don’t touch.
“It’s a bad idea to try to feed them,” Howery says. “You don’t want them to get habituated to people and view people as food sources. They might come up around houses and attack small pets and chickens, and get into fights with small dogs.”
And it’s illegal to capture river otters and try to make pets out of them, Howery says. As a non-game biologist, Howery works primarily with wildlife species that are not hunted or fished.
River otters were absent or nearly so during the first 60 years after statehood, Howery says, but “now we have them in nearly every county east of I-35,” and a few in the southern part of the state, as far west as the Wichita Mountains.
River otters were heavily trapped in the late 1800s and early 1900s, before wildlife laws were enacted, Howery says.
“They were harvested for their fur,” he shares. “As a result, the Oklahoma population was decimated prior to statehood.”
In the late 1960s and early ’70s, river otters began making their way back, migrating from Texas and Arkansas. Historic predators such as wolves, bobcats and mountain lions were gone or diminished. Another factor in the population rebound was a “population augmentation” by the wildlife conservation department, Howery says.
Two employees who have since retired, John Skeen and Richard Hatcher, “worked out a trade with the state of Louisiana, and traded wild turkey in exchange for river otters,” Howery says. Eighteen river otters were placed at the McGee Creek and Wister reservoirs between 1985 and 1987.
“The populations increased to the point that by about 2008 or 2009, we reopened a limited fur harvesting season on them in certain counties,” Howery says.
As many as 2,000 people still work as fur trappers in the state, primarily harvesting bobcats, beavers and raccoons, Howery says.
River otters are now plentiful in such rivers as the Arkansas, Canadian, Kiamichi, Washita and Red River, Howery says, but also thrive near streams.
At night, they disperse to ponds to look for fish, he says, moving overland up to a couple of miles. They aren’t so welcome by property owners who are nurturing fish and turtles in their ponds, however.
River otters typically live eight to nine years in the wild, and Howery estimates the Oklahoma population is now between 3,000 and 5,000. They create their dens in river and stream banks and produce litters of two to four pups, also known as kits.
The animals will usually slide into the water when they encounter people.
“They are a curious animal, but don’t tend to approach people,” Howery says.
