What a Friday treasure from our Langston Golf Course trail camera! We've seen River Otters in other areas of the watershed, and the Anacostia Watershed Society is absolutely delighted to see this photographic evidence from this spot just north of Kingman Island.
Last autumn, we set out a Pumpkin Cam to see what range of species would take advantage of surprise fall feast courtesy our annual Tavern Toast pumpkin carving. Not too many surprising guests - domestic cats, squirrels, raccoons - in that set of photos. To see foxes, beavers, oppossums, and river otters thriving in this part of the river is a testament to the success of our commmitment to biodiversity and habitat restoration. Larger mammals are the first to go when an ecosystem grows unhealthy, and the return of this population to the watershed shows that we are revitalizing these animals' homes.
We are excited to add these photos to our Biodiversity of the Anacostia River project on iNaturalist. If you're lucky enough to spot a river otter in the wild, we hope you would add your photo there, too!