You Might Not Otter Be Swimming Here

August 14, 2009

"You Otter Be Chill'n" Photo by Moose

Brigitte France an Austrian on vacation in Wisconsin had a rather unusual wildlife encounter the other day. It seems that Brigitte was out for her customary morning swim when a trio of otters seemed to take exception to her morning swim.

“For 14 years, I swim in that lake,” Brigitte France said in a telephone interview Tuesday. “I like to swim long distances. I swim close to shore so I could get out if something happens.”
When she heard the hissing last Wednesday morning, she turned in the water and saw an otter poking its head out of the water.
“I thought it was really cool,” she said. “I’d never seen an otter before. Then, all of a sudden, there were three of them.”
The otters dived and popped up farther out in the lake. France resumed swimming.
“All of a sudden, one of the otters popped up just a couple meters from me, next to me,” said France, an elementary school teacher. “That made me feel uncomfortable. I decided to get out of the water. I swam right to the bank, about 3 or 4 meters away from me.”
The trouble began just as she approached the lake shore.
“I had my hands on the ground,” she said, “and there they were — one on the right leg and one on the left leg.”
The otters bit her eight or nine times, she said.
“I shook my legs, and they went away,” France said.
She says she remained calm as the otters bit her and that the bites “never really hurt much.”
She believes the otters were adults.

Duluth News Tribune

While I’m sure at the time this was no laughing matter the unusualness of this story along with the mental images of someone getting chased by a group of otters is somewhat amusing. The story does not make it sound like Wisconsin authorities plan to do anything about these otter ruffians but Mrs. France is undergoing the multiple rabies shot regiment. On the bright side she otter have some great stories to share with family and friends when she returns home to Austria next week.