Just look at what we found on our otter camera traps on Cors Caron!
Otters (Lutra lutra) are one of the many rare and protected species that are present at Cors Caron Special Area of Conservation(SAC), and the Afon Teifi SAC that runs through the reserve.
Although otters will choose to create dens and raise young close to the River Teifi, the raised bog habitats at Cors Caron provide an important source of food for otters, such as insects, amphibians and reptiles.
Our LIFE staff regularly see signs of otter activity all over the reserve, such as well trodden otter paths with footprint, otter droppings or spraints (often strong smelling and used to mark territories) and feeding remains.
We are surveying and monitoring otter activity at Cors Caron to ensure that our LIFE project works don’t disturb any important breeding sites. This is being done through a combination of surveying the areas we intend to undertake works on in detail for otter presence, and then monitoring activity at certain hot spots by using camera traps (see pic of camera being installed below).
The cameras will continue to be checked regularly throughout the summer and autumn to help us build up a clear picture of otter presence on site. Once we understand how otters are using these areas, we will have a better idea of how to design and manage our work to ensure as little disturbance as possible.
Thank you to Geoff Liles from The Otter Consultancy for all his help as part of the project.
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