otter at oriole park?

[souci]

Yesterday I was at Oriole park, at about 5:00 pm, at the little pond, rather than on  the river. We were looking at the turtles and suddenly a little furry creature popped up on the bank, swirling and climbing around and thru the logs. One of my kids thought it was a fox at first, reddish and sturdy, with a thick furry tail, but it was too long and low. It went into the water, swam along the surface, showing both back and tail at the top of the water. The ducks on the pond kept it company as it crossed to the other side, but before long, it dipped back into the water, crossed back, and climbed out and disappeared behind the brush and logs. Tail too thick for muskrat and too thin and furry for beaver. I think it was under a metre in length including its tail, which was nearly as thick, but not quite as long as its body. Does that sound right?

[Reuven_M]

The other option would be mink - smaller and not quite as compact and streamlined.

[lovemypt]

I would agree with Reuven.....greater possibility it was a large male mink.  Otters are pretty rare in our area and I have never seen one in all my years working with wildlife, but I have heard of a few reports and see some members pictures so could happen..... The mink seem to be everywhere right now and there has been alot of sightings

[souci]

I was so stunned by the sighting - I have never seen either animal anywhere, and never any animals at Oriole Park. I did not even think to check for it as a mink, and I did not really think of them as swimmers, but I see many of the Toronto reports of mink are from wet places, and that it is in fact a semi-aquatic animal. That feeling of the tail being nearly the size of the body seems right, and my impression of size did seem smaller than what I expected for an otter. I couldn't get a clear enough look at the face, which might have been helpful, and the reddish-ness can go either way, I guess.

My rule is that one is always seeing the more common possibility and so I think mink is a much likelier identification. Thanks so much to you both. I'll keep my eyes open there to see if I can spot one again and try and confirm from my own view, too.