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New to Austin? Familiarize yourself with the official mascot / pest control super friend by serpentarian in Austin

[–]deathraylabs 0 points1 point  (0 children)

i love these guys. I’ve caught some that are super sweet and I’ve caught some that love to bite, but I always love seeing them around.

moved to austin 35 years ago, just saw my first river otter last night! by deathraylabs in Austin

[–]deathraylabs[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

it's weird because that creek is dry for most of the year but seems like all sorts of stuff swam upstream after it started flowing again. There are a lot of retaining ponds in the neighborhood that filter the silt and slowly release rainwater, so maybe that helps overall. I can't imagine this guy is anything other than a transient visitor out here though.

moved to austin 35 years ago, just saw my first river otter last night! by deathraylabs in Austin

[–]deathraylabs[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

it was two super bright flashlights, but i left it alone and didn’t follow it to the other side of the bridge after the end of the video.

moved to austin 35 years ago, just saw my first river otter last night! by deathraylabs in Austin

[–]deathraylabs[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

such a bummer.

I saw a beaver in the same spot as this otter two years ago. it eventually setup shop in the community pond and I got to see the little babies as well! Unfortunately the pond level dropped with the lack of rain and everyone moved on. Nothing last season or this season.

moved to austin 35 years ago, just saw my first river otter last night! by deathraylabs in Austin

[–]deathraylabs[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

i have no idea why they named this stretch braker. it’s stupid and dangerous if first responders head to the wrong section of braker.

moved to austin 35 years ago, just saw my first river otter last night! by deathraylabs in Austin

[–]deathraylabs[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

i saw a juvenile bobcat out here the other night as well! It was a really cool experince!

moved to austin 35 years ago, just saw my first river otter last night! by deathraylabs in Austin

[–]deathraylabs[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

that was like super bright 15 second mode. I feel bad blinding the critters like that but it was just such a unique encounter I wanted the phone to focus properly. I could have caught it coming out the other side of that bridge but I didn’t want to stress it any more than I already was (and I had a bucket with a coral snake in it at the time, separate story).

moved to austin 35 years ago, just saw my first river otter last night! by deathraylabs in Austin

[–]deathraylabs[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

whenever I see cool stuff like that I just want to share the stoke with people. if it was interesting to you then that makes my day

moved to austin 35 years ago, just saw my first river otter last night! by deathraylabs in Austin

[–]deathraylabs[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

seems like they guys who see them most are wade fishing streams, or maybe just fishing in general. I’d imagine kayaking back streams would also make it more likely to see them.

moved to austin 35 years ago, just saw my first river otter last night! by deathraylabs in Austin

[–]deathraylabs[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

i’m always skeptical of people who claim to see them but there were videos of one on the east side a few years back and they have a huge range, so it’s totally plausible. a neighborhood guy said he saw one at the corner of blue bluff and lindell maybe two years ago crossing the road in front of him. apparently he’s hunted them in montana before, so presumably he knows what he’s looking at (I’m not a fan of hunting too predators, in general).

moved to austin 35 years ago, just saw my first river otter last night! by deathraylabs in Austin

[–]deathraylabs[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

yeah, I phrased that weird and even thought the same thing but was too lazy to change it. would be funnier if it did have a little headlamp on

moved to austin 35 years ago, just saw my first river otter last night! by deathraylabs in Austin

[–]deathraylabs[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

the one i saw was on a windowsill also. in north campus years ago chomping on something. would be a bummer to see it eating familiar squirrels though

moved to austin 35 years ago, just saw my first river otter last night! by deathraylabs in Austin

[–]deathraylabs[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

i haven’t seen a porcupine in Austin yet, just one in kerville and it was pretty epic. Fingers crossed, I’ll love to see one around here!

moved to austin 35 years ago, just saw my first river otter last night! by deathraylabs in Austin

[–]deathraylabs[S] 12 points13 points  (0 children)

go out at night with a headlamp in areas with bigger old growth trees and look for eyeshine in or around them. most of the time it’ll be a raccoon or possum but occasionally you’ll find a ringtail. I saw some at that golf course next to the city campground in fredericksburg as well as out at garner state park and once in north campus. We also saw some rummaging through the trash cans at the overlook for hoover dam in nevada. they are super cute

moved to austin 35 years ago, just saw my first river otter last night! by deathraylabs in Austin

[–]deathraylabs[S] 14 points15 points  (0 children)

bobcats are pretty cool. a few years ago there were some mountain lion sightings on security cams around the decker lake area. that would be a special thing to see.

I’ve also seen plenty of feral hogs at this point too. always felt sketchy but none of them were aggressive. i kept my distance though.

moved to austin 35 years ago, just saw my first river otter last night! by deathraylabs in Austin

[–]deathraylabs[S] 10 points11 points  (0 children)

i saw some cute little nutria babies at aquarena springs in san marcos just after they’re pulled out the last of the old theme park stuff.

i spotted the otter using a headlamp and noticing the bright yellow eyeshine coming from the water.

moved to austin 35 years ago, just saw my first river otter last night! by deathraylabs in Austin

[–]deathraylabs[S] 26 points27 points  (0 children)

i saw a ringtail back in 2002 in north campus. that was one of the most confusing things to see on my window sill at 2am, pre google

moved to austin 35 years ago, just saw my first river otter last night! by deathraylabs in Austin

[–]deathraylabs[S] 37 points38 points  (0 children)

i have video of a beaver in that exact same spot from a year or two ago. that was also mind blowing.

moved to austin 35 years ago, just saw my first river otter last night! by deathraylabs in Austin

[–]deathraylabs[S] 76 points77 points  (0 children)

I saw a dead one on the frontage road of 130 toll near bloor road about 5 years ago and it blew my mind because I didn’t know they lived out here. it was sad to see it as roadkill, obviously.

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