A Nottinghamshire woman was left baffled by the 'bizarre' discovery of an otter underneath her garden decking. Alicia Barratt, 27, of Cross Street, Carlton, was stunned when she discovered the semi-aquatic creature under her garden decking on the morning of Thursday, April 13.
The recruitment consultant was working from home when she realised her dog was fixated with something underneath the structure. "I was working from home and my dog ran straight to the decking in the morning, but I thought it might just have been a cat walking past in the night that had her interested," she said.
"But all morning she was there and then she started to cry like there was a ball under there. I stuck my head under but couldn't see anything.
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"But she kept whining so I had another look - that was when I saw it walk across and thought 'oh my god it is huge'. It made me jump at first, because I had my head right next to it."
Otters spend most of their time in rivers, ponds and wetland habitats, and are usually more active at night. Alicia called the RSPCA after finding the otter, who advised the animal would leave on its own accord, which it did at around 10pm on Thursday, April 13.
She added: "I was worried he might get hit by a car but then I saw a post in Spotted Carlton saying someone had found three otters under their decking so there might be a family of them I suppose. I have no idea how it got here.
"It was so random, I can't work out where it came from. It is bizarre.
"My parents came to have a look to see if it was an otter and not a mink or stoat, and we thought it may have come from Colwick Park. It must have come quite some way with its small feet from the River Trent or the nature reserve."
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