The Weigh In.

The Asian Short Clawed Cubs were 5 weeks old on Sunday (30th December) and we thought that it was time to weigh them to see what the differences in their weights actually were. We all look in on the Family and they are very used to our daily visits and don't usually pay us much attention when we feed them and look in on the cubs. In addition I have also been handling the cubs regularly so that we can examine them without causing any stress to the animals. However, we always have to be careful to treat the group with respect and to take nothing for granted.

So at about 9.15 on Sunday morning Mandy and I walked up to the Family pen and prepared to enter; they were unusually noisy and agitated and when Mandy threw in the first course of their breakfast they completely ignored it. Very odd behaviour for this lot! We talked to them and offered more food but they still weren't interested one little bit. These animals can be very vicious when roused and have a powerful bite so we decided to complete our morning rounds and to go back to them half an hour later to see if they had calmed down.

When we returned their mood hadn't changed one iota. Their food lay where it had fallen and they were still riled and upset. We wondered if one of the cubs had died or whether another animal, such as a mink or stoat, had got into the holt while the family had been away from it and attacked the cubs. We decided on the broom test - put a broom into the pen and see what their reaction was; well it was a conclusive if not very scientific result. The broom lost after being seriously assaulted by the Family! Something was very wrong and it was certainly too dangerous to go in with them but what was up?

Mandy and I discussed the situation and as we talked we noticed just how much dirty straw there was in their pen, could it be that simple? A couple of minutes later we returned with a wheelbarrow full of fresh straw and threw some of it to them. Well, what a response! Six very stressed otters transformed themselves into a team of very industrious movers, shifters and cleaners. The straw was taken into the holt and their mood changed so quickly that within two or three minutes I was in the pen with them and looking in on the cubs as normal. All four snuggled together in the bottom of a very bare holt sleeping soundly. And there lies the key to their annoyance - no clean straw! They'd obviously decided on a really major spring clean sometime earlier that morning but didn't have anything to replace the dirty straw. They don't usually replace all the straw in one go but prefer to take a little out every day and we provide a replacement.

Panic over we decided not to weigh the cubs that morning but on January 3rd we took them out of their holt and weighed them on a set of portable scales at the side of the pen. The Family could see what we were up to with their precious offspring but weren't agitated at all. In two or three minutes it was all over - two males (400 and 440 grammes) and two females (about 300 grammes (wriggling) and 340 grammes). The differences are still a worry but that's for another day. They were all replaced just where I found them and only one of them (the wriggler) was woken up by our activity. Very cute!

I don't think my mum ever got that concerned about spring cleaning, then again we didn't all share the same bed.......