Holt - Who Goes There!

Do you know who lives in a holt? Otters do, they are Britain’s largest carnivore at over 1 metre long and weighing about 10kg, they have webbed feet and a tail designed for swimming. These beautiful creatures nearly died out in the UK due to pollution and declining fish stocks, by the 1980’s very few otters were left in England. Gradually pollution in the food chains has reduced meaning greater fish numbers and less damage to the otters reproductive and immune systems. Now the greatest threat to recovering otter populations comes from loss of suitable habitat, disturbance and road traffic accidents.

Cheshire Wildlife Trust have been working to help bring otters back to the rivers and waterways where they used to live. These photos show the making of an artificial otter holt to try and encourage a safe resting and breeding place for these rare animals, one otter requires up to 30 holts!

The site for our log pile holt was on the river bank, as close to the river as possible and where they could easily climb the bank.

The large pipe on the right runs down to the waters edge, to allow the otters to climb directly from the water through to their new home!

Large logs were positioned and staked down to form the perimeter of the holt, leaving several entrance and exit ways. More logs were added to make separate chambers within the holt.

Otter like to have several, dry and dark interconnecting chambers in their holts, especially if they have pups.

Next for the roof, large sheets of wood were laid across the existing logs to help form a water tight home. Any gaps were filled in with smaller pieces of wood.

Finally the holt was covered with brashing (small branches) to hide the roof and logs and to help with the waterproofing and keeping it dark inside.

Otters feed mostly on fish, they are fast and agile swimmers.