Otter Invades Picnic Mousepad

Don't you just hate it when uninvited guests show up at your picnic? Trouble is, in western Oregon when you find that romantic riverbank spot for the perfect spread, you're liable to be tresspassing on this guy's turf (Okay - beach, shingle, whatever). I have to confess I've been the uninvited guest in this situation and my host wasn't any more thrilled with my presence than you'd imagine. In fact, he told me in a series of barks and hisses I wasn't welcome, but since he couldn't get me to leave, short of all-out assault, he finally caught his lunch, a fourteen-inch "steelhead" and ate it right there in front of me in his own picnic on a midstream rock, without offering me a bite. Good thing! Otters have appallingly sharp teeth!