The North American river otter who wriggled free from the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo last month recently stomped through the muddy banks of a stream near Cheyenne Meadows. The tracks he left convinced zoo keepers the little escape artist still roams close to home.
“At first we couldn’t believe it. We were pretty surprised and happy and very excited,” said Tracy Thessing, the director of animal collections for the zoo and one of two women who discovered the tracks pressed into the mud under a bridge and near a local grocery store.
The 2-year-old “Kitchi” — which means “brave” in Algonquin — escaped with three other otters on March 25. Kitchi is the only one who made it off zoo property before recapture, zoo officials said.
“This lets us know that he is still around and doing well,” Thessing said.
A day after the otter’s escape he took a dip in ponds at the Broadmoor and zoo officials, with the help of local utilities, caught him on tape. Since then it’s been unclear whether Kitchi cleared out or stuck around.
While native to Colorado, North American river otters live on the Western Slope, making it a sure bet the tracks are his. Although there’s a chance a mountain lion could harm the otter, Thessing isn’t too worried.
“He was caught in the wild, so he knows what he’s doing,” Thessing said. “He’s not a naive otter.”
If you see Kitchi, zoo officials ask you take photos or video and call the “otter hotline” at 719-648-7348.
Heather McWilliams: 303-954-1698 or hmcwilliams@denverpost.com
