River Mammal ID help

[trinko]

I saw this animal at the Coyote Hills park in the SF Bay area in California. They have muskrats there but to my untrained eye the face does not look like a muskrats. Any ID help would be appreciated. Thanks!



Photo below shows the rear paw


More photos at http://www.pbase.com/trinko/marsh_mammal

[keenimages]

It looks like a River Otter to me or it could be a Sea Otter depending on the body of water it was living?

If it was near the Bay or Coast and if there was access to saltwater I'd bet on the later?

http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/american-river-otter/

[moffetb]

Sea Otter. Came up from the San Francisco Bay. I don't recall ever seeing one that was not in the bay, but most of my experience is Monterey Bay area.

[trinko]

I thought it might be a sea otter too but it was in fresh water in a marsh off the SF bay. Also the rear paw does not look like a sea otters. It might be a river otter but I wasn't aware that there were any in Northern California. Thanks for your help!

[moffetb]

Could be a river otter, I'm not a zoologist at all. Sea Otters will easily go into fresh water/brackish water. Your local museum of natural history might be a good place to ask as well.

[trinko]

I ran into another photographer the other day who said he has seen river otters about 20 miles from where I took these pictures so I guess it's not a big surprise.

[cits_4_pets]

River otters are in N. CA - EBRPD states they are there at Big Break Reg. Shoreline - http://www.ebparks.org/parks/big_break which is in Oakley.
I suspect the park rangers could id the mammal...next time take a pix or email them one, I suspect you will get a response. They do ask for submission of wildlife photos on their website. I am not familiar with water mammals.
East Bay Regional Parks, has some of the best network of trails in the USA! Don't mind paying for their bonds on my property taxes.

BTW, nice shots, thanks for sharing!

I thought it might be a sea otter too but it was in fresh water in a marsh off the bay. Also the rear paw does not look like a sea otters. It might be a river otter but I wasn't aware that there were any in Northern California. Thanks for your help!

[trinko]

These photos were taken in coyote hills quite a way from Big Break. I did email the photos to a ranger I spoke to, who thought based on the screen on the back of the camera they were of a muskrat, but I haven't heard back. Thanks for the info.