A freshwater otter at Wadhwana lake clicked by Ajay Parmar
Vadodara: He was watching migratory birds with his binoculars at the sprawling Wadhwana wetland on Sunday when he spotted something in the water. At first, Ajay Parmar thought that it was a baby crocodile but soon he realised that it was something else. Parmar was thrilled as what he had spotted turned out to be an otter in the middle of the lake. “I have been visiting this wetland for the last two decades to watch and click birds. This is for the first time that an otter has been spotted at Wadhwana. It was a delight to watch a freshwater otter swim in the lake,” Parmar, who photographed the otter along with Ankit Shah, told TOI. “Otters have been spotted in Mahi and even Narmada but never has this mammal been spotted at this lake,” he said. Otters are carnivorous mammals that feed on fishes, crabs and frogs. Efficient hunters, freshwater otters have webbed feet and a long flat tail that helps it propel through the water. “Though I saw just one otter, I feel that it must be having its family around. Narmada is connected to Wadhwana so it is possible that the otter must have swam through the canal to this lake,” Parmar added. “The otter, even if a loner, may stay in the lake for a long time as the wetland is a good source of food. I managed to get a few clicks when the adult otter climbed on a little island for a while before slipping away in the waters,” he said. Avid bird watcher, Kartik Upadhyay said that he too never heard of an otter being seen at Wadhwana in all the years that he visited the wetland.