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Otter Country: In Search of the Wild Otter
A plan formed in my mind. I would explore the places in this land that hid my grail. I would spend a whole year or longer, if that’s what it took, wading through marshes, hiding between mossy rocks, paddling down rivers and swimming in sea lochs; recording my journey through the seasons as I searched for wild otters. Mysterious, graceful, and ever-clever, otters have captivated our imaginations, despite the fact that few people have encountered one in the wild. In Otter Country , celebrated nature writer Miriam Darlington captures the fascination she's had for these playful animals since childhood, and chronicles her immersive journey into their watery world. Over the course of a single year, Darlington takes readers on a winding expedition in pursuit of these elusive creatures―from her home in Devon, England, and through the wilds of Scotland, Wales, the Lake District, and the countryside of Cornwall. As she’s drawn deeper into wilder habitats, trekking through changing landscapes, seasons, and weather, Darlington meets biologists, conservationists, fishing and hunting enthusiasts, and poets―enriching her understanding, admiration, and awe of the wild otter. With each encounter, she reveals the scientific, environmental, and cultural importance of this creature and the places it calls home. Full of wonder, hope, and an abiding love for the natural world, Otter An Unexpected Adventure in the Natural World is a beautiful and captivating work of nature writing, pursuing one of nature’s most endearing and endlessly fascinating creatures.
363 pages, Hardcover
First published September 6, 2012
74 people are currently reading
3605 people want to read
About the author
Miriam Darlington
11 books42 followersMiriam Darlington was born and brought up in Lewes, Sussex. She lived and worked in France for two years, then studied at Sussex University. On graduating she wrote a teen-novel, then studied for an MA in children’s literature at the Roehampton Institute, and later gained a PGCE to teach in secondary school. She taught French and English for 12 years whilst still writing poetry and prose, before becoming a full-time writer in 2007.
A prize-winning poet, she gives readings and workshops at literary festivals and events, and has one full collection of poetry, Windfall which was published by Oversteps Books in 2008. She has written a book for young children, Footprints in the Sand, an ecological tale about rivers. In 2009 she gained funding to complete a book on otters in conjunction with a PhD at Exeter University. She writes for The Countryman magazine, Resurgence and Archipelago, edited by Prof Andrew McNeillie. She lives in Devon with two children, one dog, two cats, four chickens and one husband.
A prize-winning poet, she gives readings and workshops at literary festivals and events, and has one full collection of poetry, Windfall which was published by Oversteps Books in 2008. She has written a book for young children, Footprints in the Sand, an ecological tale about rivers. In 2009 she gained funding to complete a book on otters in conjunction with a PhD at Exeter University. She writes for The Countryman magazine, Resurgence and Archipelago, edited by Prof Andrew McNeillie. She lives in Devon with two children, one dog, two cats, four chickens and one husband.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 94 reviews
January 3, 2016
(4.5) Lyrical nature writing at its best. Not everyone can go off to the tropics to work with exotic animals; there are any number of wonderful authors whose love for wildlife comes much closer to home. This is among my favorite recent works of nature enthusiasm from British authors.
Darlington’s book is extremely well-written, especially in the earlier chapters. It is possibly overlong; the last two chapters do seem to drag. Still, in my mind she joins the ranks of poetesses writing sublime nature books: Kathleen Jamie’s Findings and Sightlines, and Jean Sprackland’s Strands: A Year of Discoveries on the Beach, are three more terrific examples.
Darlington travels around Britain’s watery places, ranging from Cornwall to the Isle of Skye in search of her elusive mammal friends. She references famous literary otters (such as those in Henry Williamson’s Tarka the Otter and Gavin Maxwell’s Ring of Bright Water), tracks the history of otter hunting, and even observes an otter autopsy at the University of Cardiff. “We don’t pay enough attention to this tribe that lives alongside us. They yield to us because they have to, and endure the relentless fallout from our lives,” Darlington argues – thus the huge number of otters hit by cars every year, crossing roads to reach fragmented territory.
I read the book this summer during a week’s vacation to Cornwall, and it proved to be the perfect accompaniment to our watery scenery. In fact, Darlington inspired us to go looking for otter spraint (excrement) deposited on rocks along the river Hayle. Though unsuccessful in that endeavor, we were then overjoyed to see a real, live otter swimming down a waterway at RSPB Ham Wall nature reserve in Somerset on a quick break from the drive back.
Darlington realizes that conserving a species requires you to first know as much as possible about it – as a friend convicted her, “If we know what it is and what it needs, we can save it.” It is also necessary to take personal responsibility for the ways in which we are harming the natural world; in the words of poet Rainer Maria Rilke, “there is no part of the world that is not looking at you. You must change your life.”
(This review formed part of an article about books for animal lovers on Bookkaholic.)
Darlington’s book is extremely well-written, especially in the earlier chapters. It is possibly overlong; the last two chapters do seem to drag. Still, in my mind she joins the ranks of poetesses writing sublime nature books: Kathleen Jamie’s Findings and Sightlines, and Jean Sprackland’s Strands: A Year of Discoveries on the Beach, are three more terrific examples.
Darlington travels around Britain’s watery places, ranging from Cornwall to the Isle of Skye in search of her elusive mammal friends. She references famous literary otters (such as those in Henry Williamson’s Tarka the Otter and Gavin Maxwell’s Ring of Bright Water), tracks the history of otter hunting, and even observes an otter autopsy at the University of Cardiff. “We don’t pay enough attention to this tribe that lives alongside us. They yield to us because they have to, and endure the relentless fallout from our lives,” Darlington argues – thus the huge number of otters hit by cars every year, crossing roads to reach fragmented territory.
I read the book this summer during a week’s vacation to Cornwall, and it proved to be the perfect accompaniment to our watery scenery. In fact, Darlington inspired us to go looking for otter spraint (excrement) deposited on rocks along the river Hayle. Though unsuccessful in that endeavor, we were then overjoyed to see a real, live otter swimming down a waterway at RSPB Ham Wall nature reserve in Somerset on a quick break from the drive back.
Darlington realizes that conserving a species requires you to first know as much as possible about it – as a friend convicted her, “If we know what it is and what it needs, we can save it.” It is also necessary to take personal responsibility for the ways in which we are harming the natural world; in the words of poet Rainer Maria Rilke, “there is no part of the world that is not looking at you. You must change your life.”
(This review formed part of an article about books for animal lovers on Bookkaholic.)
February 18, 2024
Poet Miriam Darlington has been fascinated by otters since childhood and after spotting one during a trip to Scotland, she decided to go on a so-called "otter odyssey" to see as many Eurasian otters in the wild as she possibly could. In Otter Country, we witness her successes and failures in tracking these elusive creatures as she beautifully describes the natural world that surrounded her. All the while, she ponders not only the otter and its place in the modern world, but also literature about otters that she's previously consumed.
Click here to hear more of my thoughts on this book over on my Booktube channel, abookolive!
Click here to hear more of my thoughts on this book over on my Booktube channel, abookolive!
May 23, 2015
Otter Country is really a personal account of an obsession with otters, like H is for Hawk or Crow Country. In many ways, it’s more about Darlington than it is about otters, though her eyes are open to the significance of otters in their own environment, to their struggles and their slow recovery over recent years. I felt a little left out, since I haven’t read Ring of Bright Water — which I know we have in the local library, as it survived our last cull, so I’ll probably give it a go when I get the chance.
There are some beautiful descriptions, etc, but sometimes I found myself rolling my eyes rather at the ideas Darlington took into her head, like that it would be a good idea to take her clothes off and jump into the burn during midge season.
Originally posted here.
There are some beautiful descriptions, etc, but sometimes I found myself rolling my eyes rather at the ideas Darlington took into her head, like that it would be a good idea to take her clothes off and jump into the burn during midge season.
Originally posted here.
April 16, 2016
Darlington has a thing about otters, bordering on an obsession with them. In this book she shares that obsession. The otter was almost made extinct in this country, and were only made a protected species in 1978. Since then they have made an amazing recovery, assisted by the cleanup of the river systems across the UK, and there are signs of otters in a lot of rivers across the UK, provided you know where and how to look.
In this book she travels all around the country in search of the elusive otter, and meets with people who are possible more obsessed that her, including James Williams, author ofThe Otter Among Us. She goes to the Cardiff University to meet the people on their Otter Project, where they perform autopsies on otters that have been killed, mostly on roads, and collect DNA data from these unfortunate creatures.
There is not so many actual experiences of her encounters with otters, as she says they are elusive, and are often active at night, but this is as much about the experience of being close to the wildlife of the rivers and estuaries, and being immersed in the fantastic landscape of Western Scotland. But as she looks for evidence, she finds their trails and spraints in many places close to home and whilst on her travels. The few encounters that but she does document the few that she has.
This is also a book about the wider natural environment of the UK, whilst we do not have the same mega fauna of Africa, it is still a fascinating country that we live in, in terms of wildlife. I liked the writing style, it is very evocative and she gives you a wonderful sense of place.
In this book she travels all around the country in search of the elusive otter, and meets with people who are possible more obsessed that her, including James Williams, author ofThe Otter Among Us. She goes to the Cardiff University to meet the people on their Otter Project, where they perform autopsies on otters that have been killed, mostly on roads, and collect DNA data from these unfortunate creatures.
There is not so many actual experiences of her encounters with otters, as she says they are elusive, and are often active at night, but this is as much about the experience of being close to the wildlife of the rivers and estuaries, and being immersed in the fantastic landscape of Western Scotland. But as she looks for evidence, she finds their trails and spraints in many places close to home and whilst on her travels. The few encounters that but she does document the few that she has.
This is also a book about the wider natural environment of the UK, whilst we do not have the same mega fauna of Africa, it is still a fascinating country that we live in, in terms of wildlife. I liked the writing style, it is very evocative and she gives you a wonderful sense of place.
June 25, 2021
A lovely, well written book on all things otter!!
I bloody love otters, so this book was a treat for me, and written by someone who clearly has a love for them too.
Miriam's writing is beautifully descriptive, tender and emotional at times.
Highly recommended for all otter lovers out there!
I bloody love otters, so this book was a treat for me, and written by someone who clearly has a love for them too.
Miriam's writing is beautifully descriptive, tender and emotional at times.
Highly recommended for all otter lovers out there!
March 12, 2018
The story of one woman's search for otters across the United Kingdom.
Inspiring and interesting. I learned many things about the Eurasian otter that I did not know, and Miriam's encounters with wild otters were wonderful to read about.
A must for otter lovers and lovers of UK wildlife.
Inspiring and interesting. I learned many things about the Eurasian otter that I did not know, and Miriam's encounters with wild otters were wonderful to read about.
A must for otter lovers and lovers of UK wildlife.
January 26, 2024
Otter Country is a wonderful combination of travel, nature, and science writing. I enjoyed the authors descriptions of her surrounds as much as I enjoyed learning more about otters. Thank you to the author, publisher, and Goodreads for the ARC that I won via giveaway. It was a relaxing read and I enjoyed it a lot.
March 17, 2024
A fascinating and poetically written book about otters. I enjoyed learning about these rascally creatures and their habits.
I don’t think I realized how vicious they can be. I mean they are predators and will literally bite your fingers off. So that’s something one should probably know, don’t try to pet the wild otters my friends!🦦
I don’t think I realized how vicious they can be. I mean they are predators and will literally bite your fingers off. So that’s something one should probably know, don’t try to pet the wild otters my friends!🦦
March 16, 2025
Yo, my otter facts about to pop off.
November 3, 2016
"There are some creatures which, no matter how often you see them, and however brief the encounter, leave you breathless with excitement. Sharing space and time with an otter, even for a few short moments, is an extraordinary privilege, and well worth getting cold feet for." Stephen Moss, 'Wild Kingdom' (2015)
In total, I have seen otters on seven separate occasions in the wild - and only twice out of water (in good light thankfully). Merely observing these creatures hunt, play, and call for each other are experiences I'll always remember as moments shared with nature that left me absolutely spellbound, wondering what on earth could possibly compare to such a glorious sight. This utter wonderment is the core element that Miriam Darlington not only captures and expresses, but puts through an amplifier in 'Otter Country'. Her full blown obsession with this mysterious mustelid is unabashed and unspoilt, compelling her to traipse from coast to coast with a tent and sleeping bag in search of it; from losing boots in peat bogs to assisting in an Otter post-mortem as part of the Cardiff University Otter Project, Darlington fully commits to and explores a lifelong passion. It's an endeavour that's really rather enviable actually..
"Otter Country" is a worthy gem in the crown of quality nature writing, and Darlington's words weave striking, visceral images into the fabric of the imagination with lyrical ease. The writing caters, if only figuratively at least, to all of the senses; page to page, I was completely engrossed and, upon putting the book down, had to reluctantly return to reality. Having said that, this literary richness and its spiralling, textured descriptions are prone to a particularly troublesome and unwelcome guest: waffle. Though I welcomed and relished an anatomical study of L. lutra, its history, and even that of other Mustelidae family members, pages and pages of nothing but trailing Otter spraint failed to find the same foothold in my interest. Though the territorial habits of Otters are intriguing and unexpected at times, I think I just about reached my spraint maximum. Phew.
Though the spraint sightings and powerful but lengthy descriptions soon descended into repetitive tedium, Darlington repeatedly hits the mark at conveying the prickly status of the Otter in Britain; no longer persecuted (legally at least) since 1978, the Otter still has an uphill battle ahead when contending with the country's human population and the industrial pollution, illegal fishing traps and road traffic that come with it. Though many organised conservation efforts are underway in the UK, the Otter is sadly still absent from many counties across the southeast. Optimistically however, numbers are slowly increasing - and Darlington rightfully implores that this British inhabitant be facilitated and supported. After all, nothing exemplifies the wealth of a particular ecosystem more so than the presence of an Otter, and their increasing population within this country is, at least to me anyway, a promising sign that the gap is slowly closing on the estrangement people may have with nature in a largely urbanised and metropolitan world. In David Attenborough's apt words.. "No one will protect what they don't care about; and no one will care about what they have never experienced". I strongly believe that it's impossible to view an Otter in its natural environment and feel unchanged by such a sight - and what a comforting thought that is. Perhaps there is hope for British wildlife yet, and the return of this shy and elusive creature is certainly testament to that wonderful hypothesis.
In total, I have seen otters on seven separate occasions in the wild - and only twice out of water (in good light thankfully). Merely observing these creatures hunt, play, and call for each other are experiences I'll always remember as moments shared with nature that left me absolutely spellbound, wondering what on earth could possibly compare to such a glorious sight. This utter wonderment is the core element that Miriam Darlington not only captures and expresses, but puts through an amplifier in 'Otter Country'. Her full blown obsession with this mysterious mustelid is unabashed and unspoilt, compelling her to traipse from coast to coast with a tent and sleeping bag in search of it; from losing boots in peat bogs to assisting in an Otter post-mortem as part of the Cardiff University Otter Project, Darlington fully commits to and explores a lifelong passion. It's an endeavour that's really rather enviable actually..
"Otter Country" is a worthy gem in the crown of quality nature writing, and Darlington's words weave striking, visceral images into the fabric of the imagination with lyrical ease. The writing caters, if only figuratively at least, to all of the senses; page to page, I was completely engrossed and, upon putting the book down, had to reluctantly return to reality. Having said that, this literary richness and its spiralling, textured descriptions are prone to a particularly troublesome and unwelcome guest: waffle. Though I welcomed and relished an anatomical study of L. lutra, its history, and even that of other Mustelidae family members, pages and pages of nothing but trailing Otter spraint failed to find the same foothold in my interest. Though the territorial habits of Otters are intriguing and unexpected at times, I think I just about reached my spraint maximum. Phew.
Though the spraint sightings and powerful but lengthy descriptions soon descended into repetitive tedium, Darlington repeatedly hits the mark at conveying the prickly status of the Otter in Britain; no longer persecuted (legally at least) since 1978, the Otter still has an uphill battle ahead when contending with the country's human population and the industrial pollution, illegal fishing traps and road traffic that come with it. Though many organised conservation efforts are underway in the UK, the Otter is sadly still absent from many counties across the southeast. Optimistically however, numbers are slowly increasing - and Darlington rightfully implores that this British inhabitant be facilitated and supported. After all, nothing exemplifies the wealth of a particular ecosystem more so than the presence of an Otter, and their increasing population within this country is, at least to me anyway, a promising sign that the gap is slowly closing on the estrangement people may have with nature in a largely urbanised and metropolitan world. In David Attenborough's apt words.. "No one will protect what they don't care about; and no one will care about what they have never experienced". I strongly believe that it's impossible to view an Otter in its natural environment and feel unchanged by such a sight - and what a comforting thought that is. Perhaps there is hope for British wildlife yet, and the return of this shy and elusive creature is certainly testament to that wonderful hypothesis.
September 23, 2017
Some background (skip ahead 2 paragraphs if you're not interested):
As a kid, growing up in the countryside of Kent (and on a farm), I had more exposure to native species than most kids. Badgers and foxes and the occasional stoat or weasel weren't uncommon (though I saw way more foxes living in London). I knew the names of the trees, the birds, insects and loved nature; would leave with sunrise and back in for tea. I spent my childhood in love with books about animals, be they the Willard Price adventure series, the Animals of Farthing Wood by Colin Dann, the Redwall books of Brian Jacques or the Deptford Mice Trilogy. When older I even went through a faze of reading creature features and had a sizeable collection, most of which I've added on GRs. Somewhere down the line, the knowledge I had about the world around me has taken refuge in some dusty corner of my brain, replaced by other life 'things', medicine and the like. I still have that passion for the natural world though.
The other week I was chatting with my mother-in-law about the recent BBC Life series. Out of all the wild and exotic animals portrayed, for me the most incredible footage was that of a stoat hunting a rabbit in the Sussex countryside (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNbqvq...). Spellbinding, yet nothing like I had ever seen before. Then (to get back to the book), the next day I stumbled upon this book in my local independent store and thought it would be worth my time. I was absolutely right.
Miriam Darlington managed to make me more homesick in the first few chapters than anything else has in the last 5 years of living in NZ. There is nothing like the British countryside and she has such a passion for the outdoors and life and nature that it hurts. This is a book about Otters but it's more a book about the outdoor world, obsession, the place of humans in that and the way everything connects. It achingly portrays the inevitable distance we have from our surroundings.
In beautifully poetic prose she conjures vivid landscapes and situations, recreating places so you feel like you're there. Her obsession and behaviour are portrayed openly and make for often entertaining reading. As nature writing it's brilliant and anyone with a love of Otters or the British countryside should read this. Plus, though there's clearly a focus on the way we have ruined a lot of our countryside and habitats, there's also a healthy focus on the ways we are changing that and improving. You can't deny bad things have occurred but to deny the work and changes for the positive would be a disservice.
She also clearly has a love for books which is infectious and now I have Tarka and Ring of Bright Water added to my 'to buy' list (I'm not sure how I missed Tarka as a kid).
Even with her wonderfully vivid depictions, part of me would like to see a big-ass coffee table version with full colour photos, maps, drawings and sketches. That would be a book to display.
So yes, well worth your time to slowly read and enjoy. It's not perfect but then so few things ever are and there's more than enough wonder within to make it an experience to savour.
As a kid, growing up in the countryside of Kent (and on a farm), I had more exposure to native species than most kids. Badgers and foxes and the occasional stoat or weasel weren't uncommon (though I saw way more foxes living in London). I knew the names of the trees, the birds, insects and loved nature; would leave with sunrise and back in for tea. I spent my childhood in love with books about animals, be they the Willard Price adventure series, the Animals of Farthing Wood by Colin Dann, the Redwall books of Brian Jacques or the Deptford Mice Trilogy. When older I even went through a faze of reading creature features and had a sizeable collection, most of which I've added on GRs. Somewhere down the line, the knowledge I had about the world around me has taken refuge in some dusty corner of my brain, replaced by other life 'things', medicine and the like. I still have that passion for the natural world though.
The other week I was chatting with my mother-in-law about the recent BBC Life series. Out of all the wild and exotic animals portrayed, for me the most incredible footage was that of a stoat hunting a rabbit in the Sussex countryside (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNbqvq...). Spellbinding, yet nothing like I had ever seen before. Then (to get back to the book), the next day I stumbled upon this book in my local independent store and thought it would be worth my time. I was absolutely right.
Miriam Darlington managed to make me more homesick in the first few chapters than anything else has in the last 5 years of living in NZ. There is nothing like the British countryside and she has such a passion for the outdoors and life and nature that it hurts. This is a book about Otters but it's more a book about the outdoor world, obsession, the place of humans in that and the way everything connects. It achingly portrays the inevitable distance we have from our surroundings.
In beautifully poetic prose she conjures vivid landscapes and situations, recreating places so you feel like you're there. Her obsession and behaviour are portrayed openly and make for often entertaining reading. As nature writing it's brilliant and anyone with a love of Otters or the British countryside should read this. Plus, though there's clearly a focus on the way we have ruined a lot of our countryside and habitats, there's also a healthy focus on the ways we are changing that and improving. You can't deny bad things have occurred but to deny the work and changes for the positive would be a disservice.
She also clearly has a love for books which is infectious and now I have Tarka and Ring of Bright Water added to my 'to buy' list (I'm not sure how I missed Tarka as a kid).
Even with her wonderfully vivid depictions, part of me would like to see a big-ass coffee table version with full colour photos, maps, drawings and sketches. That would be a book to display.
So yes, well worth your time to slowly read and enjoy. It's not perfect but then so few things ever are and there's more than enough wonder within to make it an experience to savour.
October 18, 2021
3.5* Just like the title promises, it's about the otter, but also as much, or maybe even more, about the country and the search for the mustelid.
Miriam Darlington roams the wetlands searching for the signs of otters, writes about classic otter literature (Maxwell's The Ring of Bright Water, Williamson's Tarka the Otter), explains some otter biology and talks to otter conservationists. The parts about the actual otters were great, and I learned a lot from them. But the walking and pondering in between was just exhausting to read.
While I liked the overall calmness of it, I can't say I was blown away. I really loved Darligton's Owl Sense, and I was an otter lover as a kid, so I thought, naturally, I'd love this book, but I didn't. It's possible to write a riveting piece on the landscape (look no further than Barry Lopez), but Otter Country is anything but.
Miriam Darlington roams the wetlands searching for the signs of otters, writes about classic otter literature (Maxwell's The Ring of Bright Water, Williamson's Tarka the Otter), explains some otter biology and talks to otter conservationists. The parts about the actual otters were great, and I learned a lot from them. But the walking and pondering in between was just exhausting to read.
While I liked the overall calmness of it, I can't say I was blown away. I really loved Darligton's Owl Sense, and I was an otter lover as a kid, so I thought, naturally, I'd love this book, but I didn't. It's possible to write a riveting piece on the landscape (look no further than Barry Lopez), but Otter Country is anything but.
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May 2, 2024Otter Country: An Unexpected Adventure in the Natural World by Miriam Darlington is a lush, poetic narrative about the author's quest to see wild otters and learn more about their mysterious ways across the UK. It's a compelling work of nature writing that is both a love letter to otters, who she animates incredibly well, and a love letter to the wetlands and bogs of the UK, and their importance to our climate and ecology.
Seeing wild otters is a test of patience, and so it's not surprising that this book moves at a slow pace. I was a little more annoyed when it repeated itself however, telling me things about otters we had already covered, or when the lush, drawn-out imagery from one scene was a mirror image of one a few chapters back. I think the book could have been cut by 50 pages or so and still had a big impact and preserve the author's voice. I also found the ending strangely abrupt.
That said, anyone who loves otters, nature writing, or animals will enjoy this one. Darlington's love of otters is sincere and curious, and she isn't afraid to get stuck in the mud (literally), examine otter poop up-close, or dive into a frigid stream in the hopes of seeing one. Her enthusiasm, research, and vivid writing paint the otter, its history in the UK, its peculiarities and gifts, and its species's future in a clear, lovely light.
Content warnings for animal death/cruelty.
Seeing wild otters is a test of patience, and so it's not surprising that this book moves at a slow pace. I was a little more annoyed when it repeated itself however, telling me things about otters we had already covered, or when the lush, drawn-out imagery from one scene was a mirror image of one a few chapters back. I think the book could have been cut by 50 pages or so and still had a big impact and preserve the author's voice. I also found the ending strangely abrupt.
That said, anyone who loves otters, nature writing, or animals will enjoy this one. Darlington's love of otters is sincere and curious, and she isn't afraid to get stuck in the mud (literally), examine otter poop up-close, or dive into a frigid stream in the hopes of seeing one. Her enthusiasm, research, and vivid writing paint the otter, its history in the UK, its peculiarities and gifts, and its species's future in a clear, lovely light.
Content warnings for animal death/cruelty.
March 17, 2024
Book #18 of 2024. "Otter Country" by Miriam Darlington. 3/5 rating. 284 p.
This is all about Miriam's year of searching for and learning even more about her favorite animal (and possibly slight obsession), otters!!
Otters are absolutely my favorite animal, and so when I saw this book I knew I had to check it out and give it a read!
Miriam does a deep dive into otter biology: their size, where they live, what they eat, how they move, and an amazing amount of info about her attempts at tracking them in order to see wild ones in the flesh.
Otters are incredibly smart, covert, and strong hunters that are a litmus test of the health of any water ecosystem. They were nearly eradicated in many places (especially in Britain where Miriam lives) because of hunting, pollution, and damage to their environments. But this book was actually very uplifting as they are making a comeback nearly everywhere because of efforts by humans to clean up the environment and the flexibility and tenacity of otters themselves.
If you love otters like I do, and are interested in a biology book and field notes about them, this book might be the one for you!
This is all about Miriam's year of searching for and learning even more about her favorite animal (and possibly slight obsession), otters!!
Otters are absolutely my favorite animal, and so when I saw this book I knew I had to check it out and give it a read!
Miriam does a deep dive into otter biology: their size, where they live, what they eat, how they move, and an amazing amount of info about her attempts at tracking them in order to see wild ones in the flesh.
Otters are incredibly smart, covert, and strong hunters that are a litmus test of the health of any water ecosystem. They were nearly eradicated in many places (especially in Britain where Miriam lives) because of hunting, pollution, and damage to their environments. But this book was actually very uplifting as they are making a comeback nearly everywhere because of efforts by humans to clean up the environment and the flexibility and tenacity of otters themselves.
If you love otters like I do, and are interested in a biology book and field notes about them, this book might be the one for you!
June 6, 2021
An interesting read if you have some interest in otters. It starts with some insight into the two most famous books and authors on this subject, namely Tarka the Otter by Henry Williamson and Ring of Bright Water by Gavin Maxwell. Luckily I have read both although quite a long time ago now but remember them well enough.
The author also visits different parts of the country and talks to local experts on otters in order to try and see them in the wild and understand better. Otters are doing better now since the nadir in the 1970's when they disappeared from large parts of the country. Otter hunting, believe it or not, only banned in 1978 when there were few if any otters to actually hunt.
Still very vulnerable though to pollution and road traffic which they are not well equipped to deal with and kills many every year.
The author also visits different parts of the country and talks to local experts on otters in order to try and see them in the wild and understand better. Otters are doing better now since the nadir in the 1970's when they disappeared from large parts of the country. Otter hunting, believe it or not, only banned in 1978 when there were few if any otters to actually hunt.
Still very vulnerable though to pollution and road traffic which they are not well equipped to deal with and kills many every year.
July 12, 2024
3.5-3.75 stars
I really enjoyed learning more about otters, specifically the Eurasian species which this book focuses on. Darlington does a great job capturing the life and essence of the otters so much so that they are the true stand out od this book. Where I was a bit lost was the unnecessarily complicated descriptions and meandering narrative that had me scrambling back and forth to remember what was going on with the otter hunt
I really enjoyed learning more about otters, specifically the Eurasian species which this book focuses on. Darlington does a great job capturing the life and essence of the otters so much so that they are the true stand out od this book. Where I was a bit lost was the unnecessarily complicated descriptions and meandering narrative that had me scrambling back and forth to remember what was going on with the otter hunt
December 19, 2024
Took me a long time to finish. As the title says, it is mostly about what the author does in search of otters and the places she visits. The encounters with and information about otters was sprinkled inbetween which made less entertaining than I had expected.
March 6, 2024
What a nearly extinct, mysterious, watery underworld wild animal teaches us (A year in search of otters in Scotland’s West Highlands; Devon, Cornwall, the Lake District, England; and West Wales): The biggest takeaway from this gorgeously written, hybrid memoir’s obsessive quest to discover the hidden world of otters is how it enriches a life, when you’re so fully immersed in the mysteries of the natural world.
You may be thinking otters? Who cares? A member of the Weasel family? Miriam Darlington’s “icon of nature conservation” will, then, take you by surprise as there’s much to learn from these creatures.
Otter Country is the kind of book that defies classification. A memoir woven into an unfamiliar animal tale mixing wildlife biology, ecology, geology, geography, chemistry (water pollution), conservation, restoration, and environmental sciences.
It’s also philosophical and meditative. A self-help book for living in the moment – as long as you’re willing to leave your comfort zone, like Darlington does time and again. Making her escapes into worlds so different than ours. You’ll feel her wanderlust to places you may want to add to your travel bucket list. Places to slow down, listen, sit in silence, daydream.
What’s amazing to a US reader is that even though the North American species of otter – one of thirteen Mustelid types – is seeing its population increasing, how many of us have ever noticed, heard, or thought about otters?
Why aren’t Americans thinking about otters, cherishing them like Darlington depicts the UK does? Otters have captivated the British for decades, leading to their protected status in the Wildlife and Countryside Act of 1981.
A remarkable, adorable, heartfelt characteristic of otters is their motherhood journey, in which her pup clings to her underbelly for as long as eighteen months. Signifying how much is needed to learn to survive their “knife edge” existence.
Otter Country is also about the meaning of a place. “Where a place has been home, has caressed our senses in a familiar embrace, carried us with its contours, nurtured us in a mutual and unspoken understanding, how do we deal with its loss?”
Literature and poetry integrated and cited often, add another dimension to the inclusive nature of what you’re reading, learning, sensing, feeling.
Prose-wise, perhaps if Darlington’s nature writing wasn’t as fetching the book wouldn’t be as inviting. What is it about people passionate about wild animals, wild landscapes, wildlife that translates into spirited writing?
Passion is the key word. Darlington’s lyrical, poetic prose reveals her passion as an award-winning poet and creative writing lecturer at the research-oriented University of Plymouth, England. She lives on the stunning, tempestuous southwestern coast of Devon, England, and has also written an acclaimed nonfiction book on owls adapted into a BBC Radio Book of the Week series.
Otters tell the story of the health of an“entire aquatic ecosystem” from a UK mindset on changing waterways as a “Living Landscape.” In describing a farm two naturalist friends turned into a conservation Trust (one of many referred to), Darlington says that, “it isn’t about people. It’s not about any of us. It’s about what we invest and leave, and what is to come.”
The author describes herself as “fixated” on otters since childhood. An early influence was her grandfather, a famous biologist and geneticist, dubbed “the man who ‘invented’ the chromosome.” His collection of science books fueled her passion for science and literature, along with her mother’s love of poetry. Factors that fed into “the longest love affair of my life”: a British children’s classic, The Ring of Bright Water, about otters and the man who’s credited with saving them from extinction, Maxwell Gladwell.
Written in 1960, it’s Maxwell’s otter book that lets us see the underpinnings of why Otter Country is a must-read for appreciating the vital force of humans bonding with animals.
Maxwell’s isn’t the only author’s otter story discussed, but it looms large and it’s where Darlington’s UK “True North” journey started in Scotland’s northwestern coast, where the long Skye Bridge makes a dramatic sight crossing to connects to an ancient island, the largest of the Hebrides islands.
Maxwell feels larger than life but his raising of otters as pets with tragic deaths raises questions. Darlington visits the stone cottage he lived in that he gave a mystical name to – Camusfearna. She also pays a visit to Jimmy Watt, one of Maxwell’s “otter-keepers,” who lost two fingers from one of these so-called “pets.”
Otters are water creatures. While sea otters are found in sea locks and oceans, most of Darlington’s tales are to remote water areas the Eurasian otter is known to inhabit – rivers, streams, pools, marshes, the “roots, peat and bog” of wetlands – with the occasional spotting of their “musky” dens or holts.
An immensely adaptable animal, “otter’s skills and beauty have been translated into some of the most captivating film, prose, and poetry ever written about a wild creature,” Darlington writes. You’ll be introduced to a good number of literary and visual art mediums.
Armed with intense curiosity, a wealth of knowledge, and preparedness for raw, unpredictable weather conditions, to the extent she can, Darlington explains that the first step is to know what you’re looking for: evidence otters have left their marks, such as droppings or “spraints” on walking paths, and acute listening for an otter’s sounds or calls like “huff” and “yikker.”
Chapter 1, “Spirit Level,” sets the tone for the otherworldly landscapes and places most of us will never traipse through. Certainly, not with the fervor and daring of the author! On one adventure, for instance, she realizes she’s entered “some of the wildest, most impassable woods I have ever seen.” Mind you she’s venturing alone, wild camping, “sleuthing,” especially at nighttime when there’s the greatest likelihood she’ll spot a rather clever, rapidly-moving, camouflaged predator hiding and disappearing in a flash.
What Darlington doesn’t know she asks, phones, meets, researches: British authors of otter books, like-minded naturalists and preservationist friends, otter experts, and intrepid souls she encounters on her numerous escapades. Welcomed everywhere, showing us how well humans connect through common passions.
Although otters are no longer hunted down for their thick, “double-layered,” valuable fur, land development has torn down their private hideaways; industries have polluted their waters, such as Cornish coal and tin mining; and the larger ocean predators. None, though, as frequently lethal as being hit by a car when dashing across a road.
Darlington’s patience is also inspiring. Willing to “spend a good amount of time finding nothing: then and only then, perhaps an ambiguous sign will turn up.”
A British artist whose passion for painting Cornwall landscapes, Kurt Jackson, reflects Darlington’s overall passion and wide-ranging account.
Maxwell’s fairy-tale invented name for his isolated homeplace is Celtic. “Celtic people, whose spirited life was rooted in stories of transformation, drew their mythology instinctively from the land and its creatures.”
A poetic way of describing Darlington’s quest for “transference” and imagination.
You may be thinking otters? Who cares? A member of the Weasel family? Miriam Darlington’s “icon of nature conservation” will, then, take you by surprise as there’s much to learn from these creatures.
Otter Country is the kind of book that defies classification. A memoir woven into an unfamiliar animal tale mixing wildlife biology, ecology, geology, geography, chemistry (water pollution), conservation, restoration, and environmental sciences.
It’s also philosophical and meditative. A self-help book for living in the moment – as long as you’re willing to leave your comfort zone, like Darlington does time and again. Making her escapes into worlds so different than ours. You’ll feel her wanderlust to places you may want to add to your travel bucket list. Places to slow down, listen, sit in silence, daydream.
What’s amazing to a US reader is that even though the North American species of otter – one of thirteen Mustelid types – is seeing its population increasing, how many of us have ever noticed, heard, or thought about otters?
Why aren’t Americans thinking about otters, cherishing them like Darlington depicts the UK does? Otters have captivated the British for decades, leading to their protected status in the Wildlife and Countryside Act of 1981.
A remarkable, adorable, heartfelt characteristic of otters is their motherhood journey, in which her pup clings to her underbelly for as long as eighteen months. Signifying how much is needed to learn to survive their “knife edge” existence.
Otter Country is also about the meaning of a place. “Where a place has been home, has caressed our senses in a familiar embrace, carried us with its contours, nurtured us in a mutual and unspoken understanding, how do we deal with its loss?”
Literature and poetry integrated and cited often, add another dimension to the inclusive nature of what you’re reading, learning, sensing, feeling.
Prose-wise, perhaps if Darlington’s nature writing wasn’t as fetching the book wouldn’t be as inviting. What is it about people passionate about wild animals, wild landscapes, wildlife that translates into spirited writing?
Passion is the key word. Darlington’s lyrical, poetic prose reveals her passion as an award-winning poet and creative writing lecturer at the research-oriented University of Plymouth, England. She lives on the stunning, tempestuous southwestern coast of Devon, England, and has also written an acclaimed nonfiction book on owls adapted into a BBC Radio Book of the Week series.
Otters tell the story of the health of an“entire aquatic ecosystem” from a UK mindset on changing waterways as a “Living Landscape.” In describing a farm two naturalist friends turned into a conservation Trust (one of many referred to), Darlington says that, “it isn’t about people. It’s not about any of us. It’s about what we invest and leave, and what is to come.”
The author describes herself as “fixated” on otters since childhood. An early influence was her grandfather, a famous biologist and geneticist, dubbed “the man who ‘invented’ the chromosome.” His collection of science books fueled her passion for science and literature, along with her mother’s love of poetry. Factors that fed into “the longest love affair of my life”: a British children’s classic, The Ring of Bright Water, about otters and the man who’s credited with saving them from extinction, Maxwell Gladwell.
Written in 1960, it’s Maxwell’s otter book that lets us see the underpinnings of why Otter Country is a must-read for appreciating the vital force of humans bonding with animals.
Maxwell’s isn’t the only author’s otter story discussed, but it looms large and it’s where Darlington’s UK “True North” journey started in Scotland’s northwestern coast, where the long Skye Bridge makes a dramatic sight crossing to connects to an ancient island, the largest of the Hebrides islands.
Maxwell feels larger than life but his raising of otters as pets with tragic deaths raises questions. Darlington visits the stone cottage he lived in that he gave a mystical name to – Camusfearna. She also pays a visit to Jimmy Watt, one of Maxwell’s “otter-keepers,” who lost two fingers from one of these so-called “pets.”
Otters are water creatures. While sea otters are found in sea locks and oceans, most of Darlington’s tales are to remote water areas the Eurasian otter is known to inhabit – rivers, streams, pools, marshes, the “roots, peat and bog” of wetlands – with the occasional spotting of their “musky” dens or holts.
An immensely adaptable animal, “otter’s skills and beauty have been translated into some of the most captivating film, prose, and poetry ever written about a wild creature,” Darlington writes. You’ll be introduced to a good number of literary and visual art mediums.
Armed with intense curiosity, a wealth of knowledge, and preparedness for raw, unpredictable weather conditions, to the extent she can, Darlington explains that the first step is to know what you’re looking for: evidence otters have left their marks, such as droppings or “spraints” on walking paths, and acute listening for an otter’s sounds or calls like “huff” and “yikker.”
Chapter 1, “Spirit Level,” sets the tone for the otherworldly landscapes and places most of us will never traipse through. Certainly, not with the fervor and daring of the author! On one adventure, for instance, she realizes she’s entered “some of the wildest, most impassable woods I have ever seen.” Mind you she’s venturing alone, wild camping, “sleuthing,” especially at nighttime when there’s the greatest likelihood she’ll spot a rather clever, rapidly-moving, camouflaged predator hiding and disappearing in a flash.
What Darlington doesn’t know she asks, phones, meets, researches: British authors of otter books, like-minded naturalists and preservationist friends, otter experts, and intrepid souls she encounters on her numerous escapades. Welcomed everywhere, showing us how well humans connect through common passions.
Although otters are no longer hunted down for their thick, “double-layered,” valuable fur, land development has torn down their private hideaways; industries have polluted their waters, such as Cornish coal and tin mining; and the larger ocean predators. None, though, as frequently lethal as being hit by a car when dashing across a road.
Darlington’s patience is also inspiring. Willing to “spend a good amount of time finding nothing: then and only then, perhaps an ambiguous sign will turn up.”
A British artist whose passion for painting Cornwall landscapes, Kurt Jackson, reflects Darlington’s overall passion and wide-ranging account.
Maxwell’s fairy-tale invented name for his isolated homeplace is Celtic. “Celtic people, whose spirited life was rooted in stories of transformation, drew their mythology instinctively from the land and its creatures.”
A poetic way of describing Darlington’s quest for “transference” and imagination.
March 6, 2019
Otters have made a comeback across the UK since hunting stopped and our waterways have become clean enough for them to thrive and often outcompete the introduced American mink which severely disrupts our riverine wildlife when it gets the chance. There are otters along the Water of Leith in Edinburgh, which I've been lucky enough to see on occasion. So I was eager to read this book when I found it.
Subtitled 'In Search of the Wild Otter' this book follows Darlington around the British Isles as she looks for otters, examines the places where they live and assesses their fortunes.
Unfortunately Darlington is one of those nature writers who seems to think that her reactions to the natural world are more important than the natural world itself. The book often feels like it should be classified as memoir rather than natural history. This may be of course a reaction to the fact that very few otters turn up in the book. They're elusive creatures and in fact their absence in the book needn't be a problem, after all Peter Matthiessen didn't encounter a snow leopard at all in his masterpiece The Snow Leopard. It's just that I feel I've seen more otters in the wild than Darlington has.....
It is a beautifully written book, without becoming self conciously overly poetic as can sometimes seem to be the fashion in nature writing. There are also some wonderful insights into otter life:
'Ash trees are most popular with otters because their roots form a complicated system of shelter below ground, and are often right by or even overhanging the water, so that the otter can slip subtly in or out. An otter may also sleep on a rocky ledgeor tucked away in the reeds. To enter the water they prefer to use points where there is cover - branches or undergrowth - to increase stealth and invisibility.They are good climbers and will sometimes climb up into the hidden shelter of a pollarded willow to sleep. During the day, people, dogs or cattle may walk past unaware that an otter is curled up right above their heads, fast asleep.'
Subtitled 'In Search of the Wild Otter' this book follows Darlington around the British Isles as she looks for otters, examines the places where they live and assesses their fortunes.
Unfortunately Darlington is one of those nature writers who seems to think that her reactions to the natural world are more important than the natural world itself. The book often feels like it should be classified as memoir rather than natural history. This may be of course a reaction to the fact that very few otters turn up in the book. They're elusive creatures and in fact their absence in the book needn't be a problem, after all Peter Matthiessen didn't encounter a snow leopard at all in his masterpiece The Snow Leopard. It's just that I feel I've seen more otters in the wild than Darlington has.....
It is a beautifully written book, without becoming self conciously overly poetic as can sometimes seem to be the fashion in nature writing. There are also some wonderful insights into otter life:
'Ash trees are most popular with otters because their roots form a complicated system of shelter below ground, and are often right by or even overhanging the water, so that the otter can slip subtly in or out. An otter may also sleep on a rocky ledgeor tucked away in the reeds. To enter the water they prefer to use points where there is cover - branches or undergrowth - to increase stealth and invisibility.They are good climbers and will sometimes climb up into the hidden shelter of a pollarded willow to sleep. During the day, people, dogs or cattle may walk past unaware that an otter is curled up right above their heads, fast asleep.'
September 24, 2015
Miriam Darlington travels the length and breadth of the country, from the Somerset Levels to the wild coast of Northumbria, from Scotland to her home in Devon, hoping to sight otters, the creatures who have been a lifelong obsession for her.
Darlington is a poet, and her descriptions are lyrical and very emotive - the landscape, the birds and animals she encounters, and even the weather are all carefully observed and beautifully brought to life for the reader. Her passion for the natural world is infectious, and her eagerness to learn as much as possible from the experts she encounters is quite endearing.
There is a bit of repetition across the chapters making the narrative slightly disjointed at times. The opening chapter is in my view the weakest, as it contains large sections replaying other books about otters - I much preferred the chapters where Darlington expresses her own thoughts and feelings. Overall, however, an interesting and informative book, well-written and engaging.
Darlington is a poet, and her descriptions are lyrical and very emotive - the landscape, the birds and animals she encounters, and even the weather are all carefully observed and beautifully brought to life for the reader. Her passion for the natural world is infectious, and her eagerness to learn as much as possible from the experts she encounters is quite endearing.
There is a bit of repetition across the chapters making the narrative slightly disjointed at times. The opening chapter is in my view the weakest, as it contains large sections replaying other books about otters - I much preferred the chapters where Darlington expresses her own thoughts and feelings. Overall, however, an interesting and informative book, well-written and engaging.
July 10, 2020
Darlington is a fine writer but, from a U.S. perspective, exceptionally English. By that I mean her word choices might be common parlance in The U.K., but in the U.S., we have no idea. For example, a river in full spate, a pollard tree, a fen, and so on and on. Her descriptions are also very English -- I have no idea what the countryside around Devon or Exeter or Wales looks like or what the difference is between a chalk stream and another. All that being said, this book is less about otters and more about her encounters with nature with the otter serving as the vehicle to take her from one locale to the next. Did I learn about otters? Yes, absolutely and gained more than I'd had when I started the book, so not a complete failure on her part, but it took me far too long to plow through her ponderous prose. All in all, very disappointing, as I love otters.
February 20, 2024
I learned a lot about otters in this book but the main story was too unorganized to enjoy fully. There was great information; matched with a good story, eloquent lines, and great literary comparisons, however, the execution was lacking in organization to make all these things flow. I constantly felt like I had read a line over and over again. I was always waiting for the next otter fact to be buried inside prose and literary comparisons. It was a lot of work as a reader. I appreciate the awareness this book is spreading as well as the adventure the author went on.
I do think this book has a great audience with those looking for more information on otters, wildlife, and conservation.
Thank you to Netgalley and Tin House for a copy of this book. It is out February 20th
I do think this book has a great audience with those looking for more information on otters, wildlife, and conservation.
Thank you to Netgalley and Tin House for a copy of this book. It is out February 20th
February 15, 2023
I loved this book. I often struggle with non-fiction because it lacks a narrative to carry you through the information but this book is almost poetically written, with Miriam herself becoming a main character and narrator through which the reader observes and learns about otters.
A beautifully written and really detailed book. Highly recommend.
A beautifully written and really detailed book. Highly recommend.
February 2, 2020
An enjoyable and interesting book. There were parts I found more engaging than others but on the whole it paints a colourful picture of the lives and struggles of otters.
August 13, 2022
Some sparse moments of lovely joy, but unfortunately a lot of doom and gloom, which wasn't what I picked this book up for. Interesting but also quite depressing.
August 21, 2022
A little context: I read this book 10 years post-publication and I would give more than a penny for the authors thoughts in this strangest of times: droughts and the driest summer in over 40 years, decimating aquatic ecosystems, sewage incidents in rivers and sea alike and one of a growing number of tedious leadership votes where little pride seems to be taken on environmental protection, particularly post Brexit. In the meantime the latest Welsh otter census showed an alarming if not cataclysmic range contraction for the first time in decades, thought to be to do with the overall health, or lack of, of our rivers. And despite that, otters seem to be showing up more and more, growing in confidence and range around some parts of the UK. I even saw one recently during the middle of the day, showing not the least bit concern of my presence.
The author took us through the British otters history with mankind up until the 2012 Olympics year (relevant) on mainland Britain, not visiting Shetland nor spending much time on their Scottish island hotspots. Rather more impressively, she sought out otters all over England and Wales, having mixed success but always learning, sniffing around for clues and trying to understand what it is, to be an otter.
The book had four parallel themes. The first was to try and find otters, which she sometimes did and had some pleasurable and informative encounters to share. The second was to immerse herself in the otters world, smelling their jasmine spraint, swimming in their muddy rivers and tidal seas and even resting as an otter does, concealed and curled up in the wild. The author crawled under bridges, squelched through moors, waded into streams and camped out in bleakest winter. She certainly showed herself to be far more than a fair-weather otter watcher. Thirdly, she visited otter enthusiasts who dedicate much of their profession and / or free time to studying otters to soak up all she could from their own learnings. And lastly, a continual referral to otter literature of the past such as Tarka, Ring of Bright Water and poetry from centuries gone by. In regards to the above, I came away with a huge respect for the authors body of work, both in terms of research and time in the field. As well as being informative about the otters habits, from the top of the moors to the estuaries, it was written beautifully, barely a word wasted.
The only thing missing for me was more otters. The author was following shadows almost all the way through and whilst that was the narrative of the story - otters are so hard to find - it resulted in minimal emotional investment in the story itself with no recurring sightings of local otters to keep the story anchored. But there's not much the author could have done about that, she certainly tried hard enough. What she did do, is hint at the otters future. The iconic 2012 olympics in London included regeneration of both the local ecosystem and economy, and amongst other things included the installation of artificial otter holts, hoping to draw them in from the Lea Valley. But she painted a bleaker picture further south, with the counties of Sussex and Kent having altered their rivers to such a degree as to make the otters return less likely. Otters are likely easier to find in the authors Devon home now than they were in 2012, but just as she predicted, that has not been repeated country wide. We should take immense pride in our rivers and wetlands, with the otter the master and revealer of whether we have done so. Their fate is still in the balance and, as for this book, it is a must read for the otter enthusiasts amongst us.
The author took us through the British otters history with mankind up until the 2012 Olympics year (relevant) on mainland Britain, not visiting Shetland nor spending much time on their Scottish island hotspots. Rather more impressively, she sought out otters all over England and Wales, having mixed success but always learning, sniffing around for clues and trying to understand what it is, to be an otter.
The book had four parallel themes. The first was to try and find otters, which she sometimes did and had some pleasurable and informative encounters to share. The second was to immerse herself in the otters world, smelling their jasmine spraint, swimming in their muddy rivers and tidal seas and even resting as an otter does, concealed and curled up in the wild. The author crawled under bridges, squelched through moors, waded into streams and camped out in bleakest winter. She certainly showed herself to be far more than a fair-weather otter watcher. Thirdly, she visited otter enthusiasts who dedicate much of their profession and / or free time to studying otters to soak up all she could from their own learnings. And lastly, a continual referral to otter literature of the past such as Tarka, Ring of Bright Water and poetry from centuries gone by. In regards to the above, I came away with a huge respect for the authors body of work, both in terms of research and time in the field. As well as being informative about the otters habits, from the top of the moors to the estuaries, it was written beautifully, barely a word wasted.
The only thing missing for me was more otters. The author was following shadows almost all the way through and whilst that was the narrative of the story - otters are so hard to find - it resulted in minimal emotional investment in the story itself with no recurring sightings of local otters to keep the story anchored. But there's not much the author could have done about that, she certainly tried hard enough. What she did do, is hint at the otters future. The iconic 2012 olympics in London included regeneration of both the local ecosystem and economy, and amongst other things included the installation of artificial otter holts, hoping to draw them in from the Lea Valley. But she painted a bleaker picture further south, with the counties of Sussex and Kent having altered their rivers to such a degree as to make the otters return less likely. Otters are likely easier to find in the authors Devon home now than they were in 2012, but just as she predicted, that has not been repeated country wide. We should take immense pride in our rivers and wetlands, with the otter the master and revealer of whether we have done so. Their fate is still in the balance and, as for this book, it is a must read for the otter enthusiasts amongst us.
Read
March 10, 2024You probably know someone who is fixated --- maybe even borderline obsessed --- with seeing a certain animal. For many people, it’s a particular bird: a pileated woodpecker, an owl in flight. But for others, it’s an elusive mammal: a blue whale, a moose, a fisher. In nature writer Miriam Darlington’s case, the object of her fixation is the otter. She’s so keen on finding this slippery animal that on several occasions she calls it her “grail.”
Darlington, who lives in the United Kingdom, first sees an otter in the remote and harshly beautiful Scottish Highlands, the setting for a book (and later movie) about otters, RING OF BRIGHT WATER. But when she returns home to Devon, in the south of England, she discovers almost by accident that there are otters closer to home. Although still fiendishly difficult to find in the wild, they are dispersed throughout the wild river landscapes of Great Britain. So she sets off to find as many of these habitats as she can, to look for otters and their signs, and to reflect on what their existence means about the habitats they call home.
Over the course of nine chapters --- each of which, for the most part, can stand on its own as a kind of extended nature essay --- Darlington explores these landscapes, often alone but also in the company of others who have written about otters, studied them or worked to ensure their continued survival. After years of being hunted almost to extinction, otters are again flourishing, but she urges readers not to take that for granted.
Those who might be expecting a blend of nature writing and memoir (à la H IS FOR HAWK) will need to adjust their assumptions. Darlington herself is a secondary figure in her narrative, offering only brief glimpses into her personal life, and no profound connections between the animals she observes and any kind of larger meaning. But perhaps that is a purer kind of nature writing, one that takes the natural world on its own terms rather than trying to conform it to human shapes.
Although Darlington is clearly a skilled observer and tracker of otters, her writing really shines in her descriptions of the landscape. Here she describes the river Fowey in Cornwall as active, dynamic and full of life: “It shoulders and slumps round boulders, carving steeply into its own valley, riding round bends, soaking into reedy marshes where elvers and frogs thrive.” Elsewhere, she describes animal tracks as a way of revealing the life that surrounds her: “The mud is doodled all over with aimless wanderings: tiny, scribbled bird prints; erratic circlings of some small mammal. Further on, it’s pimpled with a million worm casts, and I can see where a fox has been trotting on sticky paws to the water.”
At times, the details Darlington provides about otters can grow repetitious. One wonders if some of these well-realized chapters were published separately before being combined into a cohesive book-length narrative, as some statistics and descriptions occur multiple times. But despite this slight weakness in editing, OTTER COUNTRY, which was published a dozen years ago in the UK, now allows US readers to take a vicarious journey into some of the varied landscapes of Darlington’s home country and share in a bit of her fondness for these complicated creatures.
Reviewed by Norah Piehl
Darlington, who lives in the United Kingdom, first sees an otter in the remote and harshly beautiful Scottish Highlands, the setting for a book (and later movie) about otters, RING OF BRIGHT WATER. But when she returns home to Devon, in the south of England, she discovers almost by accident that there are otters closer to home. Although still fiendishly difficult to find in the wild, they are dispersed throughout the wild river landscapes of Great Britain. So she sets off to find as many of these habitats as she can, to look for otters and their signs, and to reflect on what their existence means about the habitats they call home.
Over the course of nine chapters --- each of which, for the most part, can stand on its own as a kind of extended nature essay --- Darlington explores these landscapes, often alone but also in the company of others who have written about otters, studied them or worked to ensure their continued survival. After years of being hunted almost to extinction, otters are again flourishing, but she urges readers not to take that for granted.
Those who might be expecting a blend of nature writing and memoir (à la H IS FOR HAWK) will need to adjust their assumptions. Darlington herself is a secondary figure in her narrative, offering only brief glimpses into her personal life, and no profound connections between the animals she observes and any kind of larger meaning. But perhaps that is a purer kind of nature writing, one that takes the natural world on its own terms rather than trying to conform it to human shapes.
Although Darlington is clearly a skilled observer and tracker of otters, her writing really shines in her descriptions of the landscape. Here she describes the river Fowey in Cornwall as active, dynamic and full of life: “It shoulders and slumps round boulders, carving steeply into its own valley, riding round bends, soaking into reedy marshes where elvers and frogs thrive.” Elsewhere, she describes animal tracks as a way of revealing the life that surrounds her: “The mud is doodled all over with aimless wanderings: tiny, scribbled bird prints; erratic circlings of some small mammal. Further on, it’s pimpled with a million worm casts, and I can see where a fox has been trotting on sticky paws to the water.”
At times, the details Darlington provides about otters can grow repetitious. One wonders if some of these well-realized chapters were published separately before being combined into a cohesive book-length narrative, as some statistics and descriptions occur multiple times. But despite this slight weakness in editing, OTTER COUNTRY, which was published a dozen years ago in the UK, now allows US readers to take a vicarious journey into some of the varied landscapes of Darlington’s home country and share in a bit of her fondness for these complicated creatures.
Reviewed by Norah Piehl
November 19, 2025
this took me a while to get through, I haven't been reading much. contrasting it with being a beast, instead of pretending to be an otter, miriam darlington just tries to see otters. she also talks to a lot of other people who are obsessed with otters, including a guy who sends her an article about every single time an otter is killed on the road or drowned in a fishing net, which seems super depressing but she seems to appreciate it. all the otters that are found dead in the UK are apparently collected and dissected for data, so she also went to the lab where they dissect them. not something I would want to do, but ok. she also quotes extensively from ring of bright water and tarka the otter, which were two books I feel like I had on my bookshelf when I was a kid but never read. which, frankly, some of the excepts sound depressing and horrifying so it's just as well. I know that horrible things happen in this world, but I don't know that my leisure reading is where I want to encounter them at the moment.
miriam darlington was a little annoying to me, to be honest. there were things about her I liked, she was very game about going on solo camping trips to try to see otters in all sorts of weather. I less liked the social interactions she described - either she or the other person or people always seemed to be awkward, like when she was in a class and an otter pelt gets passed around and she's practically drooling to want to touch it and then she's holding it against her cheek while other people wait for it. or she knew a couple who created a wildlife sanctuary and then left it and moved elsewhere (it kind of sounds like they got divorced) and she makes the man come back and meet her at the wildlife sanctuary after not having seen him for 15 years and he reluctantly comes, stays a few hours and then leaves. she is very big on dividing herself from other people. SHE is out there looking at otter poop while they just sit in their houses totally ignorant than at otter could have walked through their backyard one night. THEY have no idea.
incidentally, she says otter poop smells like jasmine, lavender, and green tea.
it's full of a lot of bad news. if the otters are doing well in this region of the country, well, let's think about how well they're NOT doing in this region. pollution, toxins, climate change, interference with rivers. she spends a lot of time speculating about otters starving. it's a bit depressing.
the best thing about this book was the descriptions of different ecosystems and regions of the UK. she goes to scotland, wales, devon, the lake district, cornwall. the habitats were varied and fascinating.
her main point, aside from the peril that otters - and all of us on this planet, frankly - are in, was that they are shy of humans and very good at hiding from humans. very camouflaged to the mud and ground, swimming around at night when you can't see them, barely visible in the day.
miriam darlington was a little annoying to me, to be honest. there were things about her I liked, she was very game about going on solo camping trips to try to see otters in all sorts of weather. I less liked the social interactions she described - either she or the other person or people always seemed to be awkward, like when she was in a class and an otter pelt gets passed around and she's practically drooling to want to touch it and then she's holding it against her cheek while other people wait for it. or she knew a couple who created a wildlife sanctuary and then left it and moved elsewhere (it kind of sounds like they got divorced) and she makes the man come back and meet her at the wildlife sanctuary after not having seen him for 15 years and he reluctantly comes, stays a few hours and then leaves. she is very big on dividing herself from other people. SHE is out there looking at otter poop while they just sit in their houses totally ignorant than at otter could have walked through their backyard one night. THEY have no idea.
incidentally, she says otter poop smells like jasmine, lavender, and green tea.
it's full of a lot of bad news. if the otters are doing well in this region of the country, well, let's think about how well they're NOT doing in this region. pollution, toxins, climate change, interference with rivers. she spends a lot of time speculating about otters starving. it's a bit depressing.
the best thing about this book was the descriptions of different ecosystems and regions of the UK. she goes to scotland, wales, devon, the lake district, cornwall. the habitats were varied and fascinating.
her main point, aside from the peril that otters - and all of us on this planet, frankly - are in, was that they are shy of humans and very good at hiding from humans. very camouflaged to the mud and ground, swimming around at night when you can't see them, barely visible in the day.
May 31, 2018
Evocative, enlightening and poetic, Miriam Darlington’s ‘Otter Country’ is a book which will delight not only otter enthusiasts, but anyone who loves the British countryside or cares for our environment.
Darlington takes us on a series of quests in search of wild otters through a variety of landscapes, and because of her brilliant observational skills, she is able to evoke such a powerful sense of place that the reader travels with her.
Time and again, we participate in her own sense of breathless anticipation as she finds otter spraints under a bridge, or deduces that flattened vegetation on the edge of a stream is a slide used by otters. We ramble down meandering watercourses and glimpse them with her, experiencing a vicarious thrill communicated through the sinuosity of her prose, which seems to emulate the form and movement of the otters. We travel with her to the home of Gavin Maxwell, we retrace the steps of Henry Williamson, and we participate in the obsession which takes her into a laboratory to help with the dissection of an otter killed by a car, in order to better understand how to protect otters in the future. Finally, in one of the most rapturous pieces of nature writing I know, we find ourselves staking out the otters by sleeping under the stars, and slipping into the river itself to track them in their own element.
Darlington’s research is impeccable, and as an informative text, this book is invaluable. The natural history of the otter is opened up for the general reader, and the factors affecting its conservation status are explored. We learn about the things that endanger otters - chemicals and cars especially - but we also meet people who have devoted their lives to loving and conserving otters.
However, it is the literary quality of the work which will give it pride of place on any nature-lover’s bookshelf. Ultimately, it is one protracted hymn of praise to this miraculous, inscrutable, effortlessly charismatic animal, but its chorus praises all of nature. An attentive reader cannot fail to emerge from its pages dripping and exultant.
Darlington takes us on a series of quests in search of wild otters through a variety of landscapes, and because of her brilliant observational skills, she is able to evoke such a powerful sense of place that the reader travels with her.
Time and again, we participate in her own sense of breathless anticipation as she finds otter spraints under a bridge, or deduces that flattened vegetation on the edge of a stream is a slide used by otters. We ramble down meandering watercourses and glimpse them with her, experiencing a vicarious thrill communicated through the sinuosity of her prose, which seems to emulate the form and movement of the otters. We travel with her to the home of Gavin Maxwell, we retrace the steps of Henry Williamson, and we participate in the obsession which takes her into a laboratory to help with the dissection of an otter killed by a car, in order to better understand how to protect otters in the future. Finally, in one of the most rapturous pieces of nature writing I know, we find ourselves staking out the otters by sleeping under the stars, and slipping into the river itself to track them in their own element.
Darlington’s research is impeccable, and as an informative text, this book is invaluable. The natural history of the otter is opened up for the general reader, and the factors affecting its conservation status are explored. We learn about the things that endanger otters - chemicals and cars especially - but we also meet people who have devoted their lives to loving and conserving otters.
However, it is the literary quality of the work which will give it pride of place on any nature-lover’s bookshelf. Ultimately, it is one protracted hymn of praise to this miraculous, inscrutable, effortlessly charismatic animal, but its chorus praises all of nature. An attentive reader cannot fail to emerge from its pages dripping and exultant.
September 10, 2024
The subtitle to this could be "British woman appreciates nature" because it is 80% very nice descriptions of water, flora and fauna. I thought there'd be more facts about otters, and there were some, but mostly it was exploratory prose (which I liked). It reminded me a lot of Waterlog by Roger Deakin but with more otters. Darlington immerses the reader in the landscape - it's smells, the air and the light - and her borderline obsessive devotion to the otter. I was happy to escape into her reflections and the mystery of this elusive creature.
"Sharp teeth marks pattern the shell where it has been prised open for the meal inside. An otter's teeth have been here, I think, slipping a shell into my pocket." (109)
"I stand absolutely still. Behind me the fading sky is piled with mountainous cumulonimbus. The birds are gargantuan against the clouds for just a few moments before falling to earth. Like the underwater movement of the otter, they leave me longing for something that slips away." (121)
"While humans look out from scenic windows stacked up the hillside, the otter becomes invisible again. There is something mythic about this disappearing; it sinks back into the marvellous, fantastical underworld of its own element, where we can't follow, and the banks and edges of this river seem full of unreachable wonders: a rain-coloured heron; a wriggling pool of frogspawn; green tongues of flag iris pushing up through the wobbly textures of soaked moss." (151)
"An exquisite spider twinkles like a jewel in the centre of the intricate trap of its web. With a gold underbody, long hairy legs and a face studded with mouthparts and spooky eyes too tiny to count, its improbable beauty and savagery dangle like a paradox in a mist of silk and thin air." (188)
"Sharp teeth marks pattern the shell where it has been prised open for the meal inside. An otter's teeth have been here, I think, slipping a shell into my pocket." (109)
"I stand absolutely still. Behind me the fading sky is piled with mountainous cumulonimbus. The birds are gargantuan against the clouds for just a few moments before falling to earth. Like the underwater movement of the otter, they leave me longing for something that slips away." (121)
"While humans look out from scenic windows stacked up the hillside, the otter becomes invisible again. There is something mythic about this disappearing; it sinks back into the marvellous, fantastical underworld of its own element, where we can't follow, and the banks and edges of this river seem full of unreachable wonders: a rain-coloured heron; a wriggling pool of frogspawn; green tongues of flag iris pushing up through the wobbly textures of soaked moss." (151)
"An exquisite spider twinkles like a jewel in the centre of the intricate trap of its web. With a gold underbody, long hairy legs and a face studded with mouthparts and spooky eyes too tiny to count, its improbable beauty and savagery dangle like a paradox in a mist of silk and thin air." (188)
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