Otis Fishing Report for August 22, 2023: As he does many days, Otis begins the new calendar day in his Office fishing. And it’s an hour and a half in before Otis gets his first fresh catch of the day! Three minutes, later, he gets his second! And then the fish are on pause again. Otis paces a bit between the Boulder and his Office and then takes to Sit Fishing in his Office.
Then 20 minutes later, his sit-and-wait strategy pays off with a FISH! Minutes later, Otis has another! Having been on the Walker Go Round the last two days and seeing Grazer approaching, Otis immediately RUNS with his fish, as if by instinct. He heads toward the nearest escape — the Boulder.
But Grazer is just doing Grazer. She sniffs around the Office and pays Otis no mind — she doesn’t even chitter chatter tonight. Realizing he’s safe, Otis relaxes and dines at the Table Rock with a setting for one. He doesn’t even flinch when she walks his way for an instant.
Once he’s finished eating, Grazer sits in the Office, and Otis stays near the Table Rock. Perhaps he’s waiting for Alice to bring him dessert. Or maybe for Grazer, who is acting like that dinner party guest who’s overstayed their welcome, to get the telepathically relayed message that it’s time for her to go. She doesn’t have to go “home”; just leave. Eventually, she does just that, and Otis returns to his Office — and immediately catches another FISH! Taking no chances, Otis takes it Behind the Curtain for safe keeping.
Things are, honestly… boring. And we like it like that! Otis is fishing. Otis is catching fish. Otis is eating fish. *This* is the content we’re here for!
And on a boring day at the Falls, we would just sit and ponder Otis up close in his Office. So let’s do that now, shall we? 😀
And then 151 Walker shows up as we approach 1:00 p.m. Oof. Walker gives Otis a dose of Fish Breath and then moves to the Conveyor. Perhaps all will be well. We shall see!
Walker goes for a… walk. To the Office. More Fish Breath. A lil dominance display. A lil stuff strutting. Annnnd… Returns to the Conveyor. Then we start again, and, for Day 3, the Big Boar Dance continues. Walker to Office. Otis to Wall. Walker to Conveyor. Otis to Office. Walker to… yes, we’re in full-on Swing Your Partner Round and Round mode again today.
About 2:00 p.m., Walker get’s a FISH! And seconds later, so does Otis. Cue suspenseful music. Otis’ memory is at least as long as ours, and he catches that slippery little thing and hightails it toward Alice’s. He stops at the Far Path and begins to eat. Walker is still eating… and Otis gets to finish his entire fish! Of course, Walker comes over and gives Otis a little “what for” Fish Breath afterwards, but… Otis ate his fish, so “boring” is still the word of the day, with a little “dancing” mixed in just for the fun of it!
The dancing continues until Otis leaves for snoozles just before 3:30. He heads up the Far Path quite spryly and turns left at the top behind the tree line. CamOps follow him to back behind the Falls, so look for his return either at the Far Path OR from atop the Falls following naps.
Total count midnight to naps is a whopping 18 Fish!
And while we have you here, we have this tidbit from GABear which may calm some nerves: Reposted from Mike Fitz, Explore’s Resident Naturalist, “Otis probably only needs a couple of fish per day to meet his daily energy needs in calories. The rest is gravy for him.” So Otis had 16 gravy today. 🙂
Wishes for fishes and sweet salmon dreams, everyone! ♥
Bear cam images in this post are copyright National Park Service and/or Explore.org
I don’t know who writes this Otis fish count but thank you! The writing is so engaging and funny. An excellent way to communicate and encourage knowledge and support for the bears. Again, thank you!
Aw, thank you, Jan! We love writing the Otis Fishing Report almost as much as we love Otis!! Thank you for your sweet comment.
I come here (from the UK) every morning to assure myself that Mr. Otis is well and has had his full quota of fishes. But if Mr. Walker continues his anti-social behavior and putting the heavies on Mr. Otis I am afraid I shall have to come out there with my broom and sort a few things out!
Thank you so much for all your time and efforts to bring us these daily updates. It is very much appreciated. x
Hahaha — we’re keeping an eye out for a human and a broom on cam!! You’re very welcome, and we thank you for your wonderful comment! Thank you for stopping by. We’re on standby and posting once a day while Otis is on his walkabout.
Great to hear about “Gravity Fish” !! Thank for that information, Mike, and thanks for the post. 🙂
Hi, again, Patricia! If “Mike” is Mike Fitz, he is with Explore, and our website isn’t owned or operates by Explore. Now I’m going to go find what “gravity fish” are because we missed that.