DESTIN — Stephen Enguidanos has had a lot of animals venture through his backyard at Kelly Plantation, from snakes and opossums to dogs and cats. But Sunday’s visitor was vastly different.
“It was hilarious,” said Enguidanos, a local doctor. “We were at the house when my kids came running saying we have an otter at the house. All I thought was that there was no way we would have a sea otter in the middle of Kelly Plantation.
“Sure enough, there really was an otter in our grass. You could tell he was completely lost, but really friendly.”
See more photos of the otter. >>
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Watch Nick's otter video. >>
What Enguidanos’s family spotted was an 8-week old North American river otter that somehow had strayed from its mother. The small otter was dehydrated and anemic, said Amanda Wilkerson, director of the Emerald Coast Wildlife Refuge.
“We weren’t sure it was going to make it,” Enguidanos said. “We called the Gulfarium and they got us in touch with the wildlife refuge.”
Workers at the refuge responded and took the otter back to their center on Okaloosa Island for treatment.
Wilkerson said they are not sure how the otter left its nest.
“It could have been picked up by a predator and dropped or its nest could have been destroyed. We really have no way of telling,” Wilkerson said. “Because of how young the otter is, it is not a releasable animal. It has a lot of learning still to do.”
Typically, otters will stay two to three months in the nest and then spend several months in the water with their mothers before venturing off on their own.
Wilkerson said the otter’s sex is unknown. At this stage of its life it would require probing, and the refuge wants to wait until its health is back on track, she added.
If the otter is male, Wilkerson said the refuge likely will keep it to go in its exhibit with its other two otters, Sharky and Pebbles. If the otter is female, the refuge likely will contact the Association of Zoos and Aquariums for placement because females don’t acclimate as well as males.
“We want the otter to have the highest quality of life,” Wilkerson said. “If it’s a male, we’ll probably keep it. Otters are just so gregarious and funny.”
The 2.2-pound animal lives in a small green crate at the refuge and gets fed every two hours.
Brittany Patrick, a wildlife health technician with the refuge, said staffers soon will begin keeping the otter in their pocket or curled in their arms as a way to give it a familial sense.
“Feeling someone breathing or their heartbeat is good for them,” Patrick said while feeding the small animal as it sat on her lap. “They need that kind of connection.”
River otters are found in brackish waters, and Wilkerson said it is not unusual to find them in the Destin area. The refuge takes in about two a year.
Sunday’s rescue was the first one this year.
“They’re like the clowns of the animal world,” Wilkerson said. “They love to play and (the baby otter) does, too. (It) loves blankets and toys, and should start to really develop a personality soon.”
Contact Daily News Staff Writer Angel McCurdy at 850-315-4432 or amccurdy@nwfdailynews.com. Follow her on Twitter @AngelMnwfdn.