'Cooper' the park otter enjoys lunch
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THE otter christened Cooper is continuing to delight visitors to Elgin's Cooper Park with its antics.
Cooper snacking on a fish is just the latest great photo doing the rounds on social media.
To find out more about these creatures The Northern Scot had a chat with Merlin, our resident wildlife expert.
Merlin expressed his surprise that Cooper is willing to let people come up so close.
He said: "It's very unusual for an otter to appear so tame.
"I used to go fishing a lot on the River Lossie and you'd see them about quite often, but it was always at a bit of a distance.
"Years ago a friend of mine said he saw one in Cooper Park.
"He swore blind it was definitely an otter but, to be honest, I didn't really believe him.
"I reckoned he must have been drinking.
"But then, this Spring, I was walking in the park with my wife and we both spied four otters.
"I think they were a mother with three nearly adult cubs.
"Anyway, they were really playful, all rolling around with each other like a tightly packed ball.
"We got to watch them for quite a while until they finally scampered off towards the River Lossie."
Merlin believes that circumstances might have drawn Cooper and possibly other otters to the park.
He said: "The Lossie has been in spate a lot this year.
"That means that fish have been harder to come by.
"It's certainly a lot easier for an otter to fish at its leisure in a pond.
"It's not surprising that Cooper has become so popular with the public. Otters in general are very cute.
"In fact I reckon they look a bit like that actor Benedict Cumberbatch – and he's supposed to be very popular with the ladies.
"However, if people knew the true nature of otters they might not find them quite so cute.
"As well as fish, they don't mind munching on other things such as baby ducklings."
There are perch swimming about in the Cooper Park pond.
Merlin has at least two theories as to how they got there.
One is that they have been deliberately put there by fishermen.
Another is that they were accidentally brought there by air.
Merlin said: "It might sound a bit unlikely but I've read that seagulls can get the sticky fish eggs attached to their legs.
"Then, when the gulls come and wade in the pond, the eggs get washed off."
Merlin remembers a time in the 1980s when, for a brief period, the River Lossie was full off perch.
This followed another occasion when the council drained the pond and pumped its water into the river
But while perch like still water the river Lossie is fast running.
This meant they quickly disappeared again.
