The Otter ( Dobharchú)
The otter was spotted along the riverbank at the bottom of the garden, and it also ran across the deck in frount of the house late one night.
Otters have long, slim bodies and relatively short limbs, with webbed paws. Most have sharp claws on their feet, and all except the sea otter have long muscular tails.
They have a very soft, insulated underfur which is protected by their outer layer of long guard hair. This traps a layer of air, and keeps them dry and warm under water.
Many otters live in cold waters and have very high metabolic rates to help keep them warm. Eurasian otters must eat 15% of their body-weight a day, and sea otters 20 to 25%, depending on the temperature. In water as warm as 10°C (50°F) an otter needs to catch 100 grams (3 oz) of fish per hour to survive. Most species hunt for 3 to 5 hours a day, and nursing mothers up to 8 hours a day.
For most otters, fish is the primary staple of their diet. This is often supplemented by frogs, crayfish and crabs.[2] Some otters are expert at opening shellfish, and others will feed on available small mammals or birds. Prey-dependence leaves otters very vulnerable to prey depletion.
Otters are very active, chasing prey in the water or searching the beds of rivers, lakes or the seas. Most species live beside water, entering it mainly to hunt or travel, otherwise spending much of their time on land to avoid their fur becoming waterlogged. The sea otter does live in the sea for most of its life.
Otters are playful animals and appear to engage in various behaviors for sheer enjoyment. Different species vary in their social structure, with some being largely solitary, while others live in groups – in a few species these groups may be fairly large.
The Kingfisher
There are a pair of nesting kingfishers every year in the canal under foleys bridge.
The Kingfisher is a small and plump with a very short tail but has disproportionately large head and long dagger-like bill.
Its plumage is beautifully bright: the back and tail are iridescent "electric" blue, the crown and wings are greenish-blue. The underparts and cheeks are an orange-red, and the throat and collar are pure white. The legs are red.
The sexes are very similar, the main difference being the colour of the lower mandible: the male's bill is all black while the female's is black with red on the lower mandible.
Juveniles are similar to adults, but the plumage is duller and greener and the tip of the bill is white. Their flight is fast and direct and often very low over the water, and so all you see is a bright blue flash as they pass by. There is much dispute as to whether Kingfishers have a song. Whether or not they do, the commonest call is a shrill whistle "chi-keeeee".
Feeding Freshwater fish are the main part of the Kingfisher's diet, but they will also take aquatic insects and more rarely crustaceans, molluscs and small amphibians.
When fishing, they perch on a branch over or close to the water watching and waiting for a fish to swim by. They dive in to the water for the fish, inevitably catch it, and then return to the branch where they will stun the fish before swallowing it head first.
Nesting The nest is usually in a tunnel, 30-90 cm (12-36") long, in a bank next to slow-moving water. The tunnel is excavated by both sexes and is not lined with any material.
The eggs are white, smooth and glossy, and are almost round at 23 mm by 20 mm. The male and female take turns incubating the eggs, and both adults feed the young.
American Mink (Minc Mheiriceanách)
Again the mink seen at the end of the garden, he swam under the jetty and worked his way along through the reeds looking for eggs and ducks.
There are two living species referred to as "mink": the American Mink and the European Mink. The extinct Sea Mink is related to the American Mink, but was much larger. All three species are dark-colored, semi-aquatic, carnivorous mammals of the family Mustelidae, which also includes the weasels and the otters.
The American Mink is larger, and more adaptable than the European Mink. It is sometimes possible to distinguish between the European and American mink; a European Mink always has a large white patch on its upper lip, while the American species sometimes does not. Thus, any mink without such a patch can be identified with certainty as an American Mink, but an individual with a patch cannot be certainly identified without looking at the skeleton.
Taxonomically, both American and European Minks used to be placed in the same genus Mustela ("Weasels"), but most recently the American Mink has been re-classified as belonging to its own genus Neovison.
The American Mink's fur has been highly prized for its use in clothing, with hunting giving way to farming. Its treatment has also been a focus of animal rights and animal welfare activism. American Mink have found their way into the wild in Europe (including Ireland) and South America, after being released from mink farms by animal rights activists or otherwise escaping from captivity. They are believed by some to have contributed to the decline of the less hardy European Mink through competition (though not through hybridization -- native European mink are in fact closer to polecats than to their North American cousins). Trapping is used to control or eliminate feral American Mink populations.
Mink oil is used in some medical products and cosmetics, as well as to treat, preserve and waterproof leather.
