What was that part 2 !

[Jim Casada]

Carolina Boy--There's no doubt that they are going to be drawn to the Tribal Enterprise waters (and already have been). However, otters roam widely and kill not only for food but for fun. As someone else pointed out, big trout, especially in times such as when they are spawning, are particularly vulnerable.
As Rockhopper rightly notes, they are a major problem on lower Big Snowbird, and they have, according to reports I get from friends in Robbinsville, just about wiped out Big Santeetlah Creek. It will be interesting to see how long it takes TU or FFF to devote some attention to this. I'm not holding my breath, and I'm a life member of both organizations.
What we may see developing is an angling equivalent of what is happening with reintroduced wolves in Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming. Elk herds have been devastated, deer numbers are way down, and even so tree-hugging USFWS biologists remain in denial. I'm not saying that state wildlife folks in N. C. are in denial (they know they've got a big problem) but you can rest assured that Park officials are. I don't know what the situation is in Tennessee outside the Park, although I'm sure some of you do.
To me, forgetting the Park for the moment, it is sort of self-defeating for state folks to rear trout at considerable cost on the one hand, with angler pleasure specifically in mind, while they have restocked otters which prey on those same trout in deadly fashion. To me, otters are the spawn of Beelzebub. Go figure!
Jim Casada
www.jimcasadaoutdoors.com
P. S. Maybe it could be worse. In the middle of writing this diatribe I had a longtime friend who is a serious turkey hunting and book collector (I peddle out-of-print turkey hunting books) call me and report on the reintroduction of fishers in Pennsylvania where he lives. They are wreaking unholy havoc on turkeys (and other creatures).

[rockcreek]

Originally Posted by Carolina Boy

Yea especially some of those monster bows that are struggling to stay alive anyways, some of those guys would feed a otter family for quite some time, I have seen quite a few of them with battle scars there, and a guy I was fishing near said one he caught had it's gut sliced open pretty good, but I wonder, if I was an otter and was fine eating dough belly's I would probably move of the luftte and onto the raven for better/bigger/and easier meal options, maybe that will reduce the otters on the park stream near there, any thoughts about that Mr. Casada?

They can eat more fish in a day then we can catch !

[rockcreek]

Jim is right about them killing fish for fun not all ways for food they are BAD news my Dad has some on the farm i have watch them eat some big fish and clean some ponds out! you can kill two and five more show up!

[MBB]

Just curious, what would be the fine for killing an otter, either in or outside the Park?

[silvercreek]

Outside the Park, Tennesse has a short hunting season for otter. There is no limit I believe. In fact it ended last weekend. You have to get a CITES permit if I recall correctly. Silvercreek

[Jim Casada]

MBB--In the Park you'd be in a passel of trouble. In both N. C. and Tennessee (state areas) you can trap otters during a specified season. Once upon a time their fur brought pretty good prices, but it has been a long time since I've paid much attention to the prices for furs.
Jim Casada

[Knothead]

I have seen otters a few times on the Hiwassee River. My wife and I watched a family of otters for about 15 minutes behind what is now the Townsend KOA. If you have ever watched otters swim underwater, they can catch trout and whatever other fish are in the water.
You can get into trouble for a lot of things in the park. I led a couple of folks to the park for fishing last June. Before the trip, I got a fishing regulation booklet. I was surprised to learn that it is illegal to turn over rocks to check what insects are there! It says that it disturbs the habitat.
A few years ago a man was given a citation for attacking a bear that was attempting to get a fawn for dinner! Duh!
Maybe the government agencies would want to stock Tyrannasaurus rex back into wilderness areas?