# An Otter Disaster **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 26, 2018, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-otter-disaster/825117 "2018-11-26T18:14:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mr.Me](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d2c977/32.png) [@Mr.Me](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Me)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2018, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-otter-disaster/825117/1 "2018-11-26T18:14:57Z")
In Vancouver, a river otter has managed to get into the Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden and is [eating all the koi](https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/officials-taking-drastic-measures-to-catch-rogue-otter-in-vancouver-1.4192326?fbclid=IwAR38aSYhulRq8F7DsWTIJ9DCmmrlQt3rulO1PP_CXNlyEELdW6Km5tiRnfE). At $1,000 to $5,000 per fish, that’s gonna be one hell of a sushi tab. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2018, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-otter-disaster/825117/2 "2018-11-26T18:43:33Z")
He otter be ashamed of himself. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2018, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-otter-disaster/825117/3 "2018-11-26T18:49:51Z")
I’m amazed the Koi are valued that high. Seems like there would be a lot more Koi thefts if that is accurate. Otters are cute as hell, very playful and can be friendly but they can still be serious pests to humans. Hopefully this otter is caught and successfully relocated soon. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2018, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-otter-disaster/825117/4 "2018-11-26T19:42:46Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > He otter be ashamed of himself. I sea what you did there. ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2018, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-otter-disaster/825117/5 "2018-11-26T19:50:23Z")
Hard to say if the koi are that valuable on the black market, but they put a ton of effort into building this garden to exacting specifications, so it wouldn’t surprise me if the koi were imported from China as well. I’m told one of the fish was 50 years old! Anyway, if you ever visit Vancouver, Dr. Sun Yat Sen Garden is a fantastic stop, well worth a few hours of peace and tranquility. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2018, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-otter-disaster/825117/6 "2018-11-26T19:53:35Z")
> [@ctvnews](#): > > To protect the remaining fish, staff began trying to catch and relocate them to the Vancouver Aquarium for safe keeping, but murky waters and high water levels have made the efforts difficult. Only one koi has been caught thus far. A skeptic would say they can’t catch any more fish because the otter is fuller than they thought. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Filbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/filbert/32/3433_2.png) [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2018, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-otter-disaster/825117/7 "2018-11-26T20:30:41Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > I’m amazed the Koi are valued that high. Seems like there would be a lot more Koi thefts if that is accurate. Depends on the koi- I believe the record price is over $2,000,000 for one, but the average backyard fish is going to be worth like $20 or something. There’s a whole ‘serious’ koi scene, with a lot of competition, shows and international trading. It’s based on patterns, colours, body shape, clarity of pattern edges, size… Your thief would need to be pretty expert to get the right fish. The other problem with stealing them for resale is that the serious money scene is very small, especially when it comes to judges, and the fish that command the crazy prices are few and identifiable. A stolen one would be no use for showing. Also the really expensive ones are sometimes kept inside in heated pools, not in the back yard pond. It still happens occasionally though; I recall hearing years ago about a suspicion that UK cars with personalised ‘KOI’ licence plates were being targeted for fish theft. At an estimated value of a few $1000, they’d likely be Japanese, which are the most expensive. China doesn’t seem to have much of a koi reputation at all, and Israel is the source of most of the cheaper koi. I used to get an aquarium magazine, being interested in tropical fish, and it regularly had koi articles in. Never got into it myself, but I found it oddly fascinating. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2018, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-otter-disaster/825117/8 "2018-11-26T21:21:54Z")
Carp-e eatum ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2018, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-otter-disaster/825117/9 "2018-11-26T21:27:29Z")
Here in my city some yellow crowned night herons nested. Most people were fascinated to see such large birds that nest in trees. But one lady was pissed because they ate the koi out of her little backyard pool. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2018, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-otter-disaster/825117/10 "2018-11-26T21:37:39Z")
A sushi restaurant can’t come up with a menu for koi fed otter? ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2018, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-otter-disaster/825117/11 "2018-11-27T14:26:28Z")
Maybe I just need my coffee still, but stories like this are sobering reminders of just how temporary and fragile human civilization really is. Place whatever value you like on something, but it’s still just what it is–in this case your prized and coveted gem is, at the end of it all, otter shit. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2018, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-otter-disaster/825117/12 "2018-11-27T14:48:41Z")
> [@Doctor\_Jackson](#): > > Carp-e eatum Winner. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2018, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-otter-disaster/825117/13 "2018-11-27T14:52:35Z")
Otters are the animal version of Bill Cosby - they seem all funny and adorable but when you google them you find all sorts of horrific stories about rape. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2018, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-otter-disaster/825117/14 "2018-11-27T14:54:38Z")
I thought that was ducks. And isn’t rape month still 3 days away? Trying to get the jump on it? ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2018, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-otter-disaster/825117/15 "2018-11-27T15:30:08Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > I sea what you did there. Will no one rid me of these perfidious punsters? ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2018, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-otter-disaster/825117/16 "2018-11-27T16:49:42Z")
> [@Mr.Me](#): > > In Vancouver, a river otter has managed to get into the Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden and is [eating all the koi](https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/officials-taking-drastic-measures-to-catch-rogue-otter-in-vancouver-1.4192326?fbclid=IwAR38aSYhulRq8F7DsWTIJ9DCmmrlQt3rulO1PP_CXNlyEELdW6Km5tiRnfE). > At $1,000 to $5,000 per fish, that’s gonna be one hell of a sushi tab. In situations like this, I come down firmly on the side of the otter. Hey, he’s just there, living his otter life, and showing up us presumptuous humans who think we can engineer the world such that it exists only exactly how we wish it to exist. ---
**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2018, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-otter-disaster/825117/17 "2018-11-27T17:26:38Z")
Update: [Chinatown koi evacuation begins as otter rampage claims 10th fatality](https://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/chinatown-koi-evacuation-begins-as-otter-rampage-claims-10th-fatality) Someone obviously having fun writing headlines. Apparently efforts to relocate the koi are hampered by difficulties in catching them. I wonder if they’ve considered using otters? I understand they’re good at catching koi. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2018, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-otter-disaster/825117/18 "2018-11-27T17:32:04Z")
> [@Doctor\_Jackson](#): > > Carp-e eatum [Animal House reference]\* “Eric Stratton, Rush Chairman, damn glad to eat you.”\* [/Animal House reference] ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2018, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-otter-disaster/825117/19 "2018-11-27T18:02:27Z")
“That was Eric Stratton, Rush Chairman, and he was damn glad to eat you.” ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2018, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-otter-disaster/825117/20 "2018-11-27T18:19:06Z")
There’s an otter-ly fantastic place Waiting for you in otter space So come with us in our otter-mobile There’s an otter-matic shift on the steering wheel