Attack reminds us cute otters can be dangerous

An otter attacked a woman and her grandson while they were swimming in the Pilchuck River Thursday morning, something so rare the state Department of Fish and Wildlife doesn’t have a protocol for such confrontations.

The 8-year-old boy’s mother said she heard her son scream, bob in the river, and then come out with the animal all the way on top of his head. The boy’s grandmother tried to help fend off the otter.

“I can’t remember ever hearing of an otter attack and I’ve been around for 25 years,” said Mike Cenci, Deputy Chief of Fish and Wildlife Police Operations.

Lake Conner Park has been closed, and signs have been posted along the river warning people to beware of the otter.

“People forget that wildlife is still wild, even if it’s cute,” said KTTH host David Boze, who is an avid hunter in Washington state.

Cenci explained that an otter’s diet consists only of aquatic organism, never human flesh. It’s likely the otter felt threatened because it had offspring nearby or it’s an overly-aggressive male defending its territory.

The boy may not have been strong enough to fight off the 4-foot otter, but Cenci said if you can’t move away, that might be the best way to protect yourself.

“My inclination would be to be very aggressive back and let that critter know that ‘hey, I’m not easy,’ and then back away,” Cenci said.

While it’s generally not in an otter’s nature, Cenci said the animal has the strength and sharp claws and teeth to cause serious injuries.

The boy’s grandmother is at Harborview Medical Center and may lose an eye. The boy needed stitches for his bites.

Because it has pounced on people, the otter will likely be killed unless it is a female with pups, said Capt. Alan Myers of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.

“We’re doing everything possible to capture that animal as soon as possible,” Myers said.

A state worker was unable to find the otter, so expert trappers were called in from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services, Myers said. They’ll try to trap it with a foot snare or tranquilize it.

“We’re not sure if it’s a hyper-aggressive male protecting territory or a female protecting its young,” Myers said. “There’s a lot of liability in trying to relocate an animal that’s been hyper-aggressive, and it would likely be euthanized. If it’s a female with pups, there’s another possible outcome if we can find a good location.”

But the otter would have to be killed in any case so its brain could be tested for rabies, if that’s a concern for doctors treating the boy and his grandmother, he said.

“There are no known cases of otter rabies in Washington,” he said. “That’s an extremely remote possibility.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.