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Issue link: https://mag.outdoornebraska.gov/i/377644
20 NEBRASKAland • OCTOBER 2014 Commission. This work documented the expansion of the otters' range both up and downstream from the release sites and eventually into other rivers, including the Middle and North Loups, Big and Little Nemaha and, since 2010, the Little Blue River in Jefferson County, Plum Creek, a Big Blue River Tributary in Gage County, Pumpkin Creek in Duel County, and the Republican River in Harlan County. There have now been four confirmed reports of river otters in the Republican River near Harlan County Lake since 2010, possibly signaling the start of a recovery biologists thought had begun years ago. To conserve resources and preserve the genetic integrity of the population biologists hoped was growing on its own following sightings in the 1980s, no otters were released there. "As it turned out, it took about 30 years to get another otter confirmation," Wilson said. "In hindsight we probably could have released them there, but we didn't. It was logical at the time." Wilson won't be surprised by other reports that come on the Republican River between Harlan County Lake and Kansas, which is a possible source of the otters found at Harlan, as well as those found on the Big and Little Blue rivers. It is just one example of Nebraska benefitting from the species recovery elsewhere. The population that established itself in the Nemaha River basin in the 1990s likely came from Missouri, where reintroduction efforts were wildly successful. In 2012, biologists used information obtained from a survey of Nebraska trappers to guide a search for river otters in other locations and fill more gaps on the range map. Trappers reported seeing otters or otter sign in 12 counties where there were no previous records. Armed with that information, biologists took to the water and found otters on the Missouri River near Winnebago, Decatur and Tekamah. While plenty of otters had been found in tributaries like the Nemaha and Niobrara, it was the first time the species had been documented on Nebraska's stretch of the Missouri. Biologists also used the survey information to find otters on the Elkhorn River near West Point, the first confirmation on that river below Norfolk. "We had big gaps where we had what we assumed was good habitat but we didn't have otter records," Wilson said. "Part of that is we weren't actively searching in all of those areas." And part may be because there aren't people trapping beavers in those stretches of the rivers. Wilson said the Commission appreciates the work beaver trappers do, especially when it comes to controlling populations that are causing problems. For that reason, it has always accepted the fact that some otters would be caught in beaver traps even when trappers were trying to avoid them. Those reports have been key in tracking expansion of a mammal that isn't often seen due to its nature: it dens underground during the day and when it is out at night, it is often underwater. "So they're very hard to detect unless you have someone trapping beavers," Wilson said. That fact alone leads Wilson to believe that there are plenty of miles of Nebraska rivers to be added to the otter range map. The recent report from Lodgepole Creek is an example, pointing to the possibility that there could also be otters on the South Platte River, a major waterway with no recent records. Sandhill lakes could be holding more otters than the handful that have already been found there, including a few far removed from the nearest river or stream. Research Following the last release of river otters in 1991, little work was done to study the animal apart from tracking their expansion. But recently, biologists wanted to know more about their home The range of the North American river otter in Nebraska has expanded greatly from the seven locations where otters were reieased. River otter range River otter releases