Otter sighting in Thunder Bay leaves co-workers feeling 'rejuvenated'
CBC
A pair of urban otters delighted passers-by on the McIntyre floodway near Balmoral Street in Thunder Bay, Ont., on Tuesday.
Thunder Bay District Health Unit employees Rachel Bayes and Jennifer McFarlane were out for a 10-minute walking break when a pair of co-workers heading back toward the building alerted them to the presence of the critters.
They weren't shy, McFarlane said, so the colleagues stuck around to watch them for a few minutes.
"I don't know if they were mates, but they were just hanging out," Bayes said. "One was eating something. And the other one was preening itself and kind of sliding on the ice."
It was hard to make out exactly what the snacking otter was feasting on, McFarlane said.
"I think maybe part of a fish or something stringy. There was a few blood blotches around on the ice."
Both animals were near a hole in the ice through which McFarlane speculated they might have surfaced.
"I'd like to say they were enjoying the sun, but they're probably enjoying our 75th snowfall of the season," Bayes said.
The animals were large and healthy-looking, McFarlane noted.
They didn't approach the women but nor did they run away.
"They didn't charge at us, so that was a win in our books," Bayes said.
Seeing the otters on their morning walk left McFarlane feeling rejuvenated, she said.
"It always just kind of puts things into a nice perspective when you get an up-close-and-personal connection with some of our local wildlife."
"There have been quite a few sightings of things along that path, most notably Canada geese that like to have their goslings within five feet of the path," said Beyes.
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