During a recent visit from our children and four grandchildren, we were lucky enough to be invited to visit the nearby UK Wild Otter Trust, by founders Dave and Kath Webb. Dave and Kath are regular patrons of the Fox and Hounds and have the very best jobs in the world – rescuing, caring for and rehabilitating wild otters!

Founded in 1998, the UK Wild Otter Trust take in about 30 otters each year, rescuing injured and sick otters from around the country.

An important part of the rehabilitation process is to ensure that otters don’t get used to being around humans, so the facility isn’t open to the public and human contact with otters is minimised.

The Trust does have two otters, Tolga and Freckles, who due to their initial injuries and recouperation time, cannot be released back into the wild, and it was these two characters we went to visit.

The grandchildren loved the experience and Tolga is a great show-off and loves to entertain, playing with his toys, dunking balls in his pool and climbing the fence to get a closer look at everyone. He was particularly interested in the children’s stuffed otters, brought along specially for the visit. Freckles was a bit more reserved and shy but came out to say hello and has the loveliest face imaginable.

It was a wonderful visit and we all learned a lot about otters and the challenges they face – as well as what it takes to care for and rehabilitate these beautiful animals.

The UK Wild Otter Trust website has a lot of interesting information as well as some amazing pictures. You can even adopt an otter or join Tolga’s Fan Club to help support him and get updates throughout the year on how he’s doing. Each otter cub takes about £3,500 to rehabilitate and all support is greatly appreciated.

We’re very grateful to Dave, Kath and everyone at the Trust for inviting us to see the otters and commend them all for the hard work and passion that goes into caring for these amazing animals.