This story is about a boat, two men, one woman and a family of otters! When you live in Redding you have access to some incredibly beautiful lakes, one of them being Lake Shasta. 
Lake Shasta is the largest lake in California and it supports plenty of recreation including house-boating, camping, water skiing and fishing!
When we moved to Redding a few years ago, we bought a little 20 foot Glastron Fish and Ski. A wonderful dual purpose boat that the whole family can enjoy. We have the boat moored at Bridgebay Resort, right on Shasta Lake.
Bridge
bay is right off the freeway, easy access for weekend after hours weekday boating. Bridgebay is a complete resort featuring lakeside lodging, lakeview dining, grocery store/tackle and bait shop, and a full-service marina. It's a beautiful resort, and it's centrally located to make any arm of the lake accessible.
On to the story. My husband and my step son usually go fishing every Saturday morning. Our area has been hit with heavy storms recently so they haven't been able to fish. This last Saturday my husband and my stepson went down to check on the boat. The boat was fine, except a family of otters had chosen our boat as their "toilet"
Apparently River Otters like to find a boat, that they jump on eat their fish and then use as a toilet. They target one boat in a Marina and only one and this boat becomes their private toilet. Needless to say, the boat was a mess. Kent came home with his lip out a mile wide because he had to clean the boat instead of go fishing as planned on Sunday. He was trying to talk Michael into helping him out and when that failed it turned to me. I of course did not take to cleaning up the boat as a preferred Sunday activity. I had planning, blogging and other activities planned for the day.
Eventually, the lip won out and I agreed to go help him clean the boat. So Sunday morning we head down to the marina, scrub brush and rubber gloves in hand. When we got down there it was no way near as bad as described, but certainly cleaning up any toilet is not a preferred activity. The boat cover had blown off in the winds so the bow of the boat was definitely a mess.
So, Kent jumps in the boat, rubber gloves on and scraper in hand ready to tackle the Otter mess. I take one look and say - Honey, those panels come out. Why don't we just remove them, load them in back of the Ramcharger and clean them at the house? It will be faster, easier and much more sanitary.
He goes, oh, you're right. We remove the panels, recovered the boat and put mothballs and raw cut onion on the tarp and around the dock to deter the otters from continuing to use our boat as their toilet.
While we were doing this one of the otters stuck it's head out of the water to see what we were doing, clearly concerned that we were messing with his toilet!
All part of the fun of living in the Redding Area near beautiful Shasta Lake. Interactions with wildlife that you don't get in the city.
As we were walking up the hill - hubby said, "good call Babe, I never thought of pulling the panels out."
You're Welcome Honey!
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Kate Bourland is a Mortgage Planner located in Redding, California. She'll help you find the right loan for your goals and individual needs! Contact Kate by phone at 530-244-4345.
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