Out & About September 2017

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Did you know that the otter is the
oldest mammal on earth, that there
are 13 different species and the
California sea otter is the only one that lives
in water?
These are just some of the myriad facts
Daphne Neville has at her fingertips, after
36 years devoted to educating children and
adults about the otter and its lifestyle.
Her current companion is Rudi, an Asian
short-clawed otter now 11 years old, who
scurries around his suite of pens in the
woodland surrounding Daphne’s home, lord
of all he surveys. He took a particular liking
to photographer Phil Cannings’ boots, but
I digress...
Rudi’s predecessor Bee was Daphne’s first
foray into otter care and while she clearly
adores the animals, her life as an ‘otter
lady’ came about quite by chance.
“A friend of ours, Ian Hunter-Darling,
was explaining how otters were dying out
in England and Wales because of river
pollution. Otters have a diet of fish, eels and
molluscs. Because our rivers were getting
contaminated, fish stocks were suffering
and ultimately killing the otters at the top of
the food-chain.
“It became obvious that the government
had to take some responsibility before we
lost one of our native mammal species. No
one had taken the trouble to look at what
was happening in our beautiful rivers.
“So, I decided to start a charm offensive –
beguile the Department of the Environment
into improving and safe-guarding natural
wetland habitats, so that wildlife could live
as it should. Bee and I went into schools,
appeared on television, went to shows –
any public event that would have us – to
talk about the otter, how it survives and the
difficulties that river pollution was causing.”
This was in the early-1980s. By 1999,
Daphne’s tactic paid off. Then Environment
Secretary Michael Meacher had the law
changed to reduce pollution in rivers, the
fish gradually became more healthy and
otters thrived.
Job done – except that Daphne and Bee
were a star attraction at many public shows
and private parties by now, so she carried
on. After Bee died, aged 13 and someone
told her of another otter that needed hand-
rearing, how could she resist?
“When Rudi arrived, he had a readymade
otter-friendly home to move into, so it didn’t
take long for him to settle.”
In fact, the pen was ‘officially opened’ by
Princess Michael of Kent in 1995.
“Princess Michael is just one of the
many people I have met during my otter
adventures,” laughs Daphne.
She has albums full of cuttings with
Davids Bellamy and Attenborough,
politicians and, most recently, the cast
of hit ITV show The Durrells.
“The producers wanted a pair of otters for a
particular storyline and so Rudi was drafted
in – I don’t think I’m giving too much away
when I say he played both male and female
otters, and in the next series I think he will
be the whole family!”
Daphne is a well-known face at the Royal
County of Berkshire Show and this year
will be her 25th.
Now her job in getting the rivers cleaned
up and seeing an increase in the otter
population seems diminished, is it time
to rest?
“Oh goodness me no. We now have a
problem in that, as otters increase in
number and move into new territory,
around 2,000 a year are being killed
on the roads.
“It’s really shocking and heart-
breaking and again the solution
is relatively simple.”
Daphne disappears and a few
minutes later comes back with a
clear plastic box, that fits in
the palm of her hand.
“You see this? It’s an animal
warning whistle.You can buy them
off Amazon for just a few pounds and
they save lives.”
She blows into the casing and a whistle
sound does indeed emanate.
“You stick it into the bumper of your car
and as you drive along it makes the
whistling sound, warning animals of your
approach. It is proven to work and in
Australia all cars are fitted with such a
device as standard.”
Not surprisingly Daphne has already
written to many major car manufacturers
asking them to consider fitting the
device – actually asking why they
haven’t.
“Some have replied, saying they are
‘looking into it’.” Daphne is clearly
unimpressed with this response.
“I will bring some along to the show, so
people can see how simple they are and
have information on where they can be
bought.
“We’re not just talking about otters now, it
is all animals – badgers, pheasant, deer
and beloved pets, cats and dogs – not to
mention avoiding the potential crashes
caused by people swerving to avoid hitting
the animals.”
One senses that Daphne is well and truly
on her next mission.
OA feature
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Daphne Neville and Rudi
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Wild animal alert whistle