This morning I was out at first light, driving down a road that I bird often. Suddenly, my eye caught movement near the woods edge. A relatively large, dark animal appeared and started running across a small field. Its lolloping gait was unlike anything I have ever observed before, and I was completely stumped as to its identification. I grabbed my camera from the bag, but wasn't quick enough, and the animal disappeared into the woods on the opposite side of the field. Racking my brain for any clue as to what this could be, it eventually occurred to me that it might be an otter. But do otters cross open land, and do they run in such a manner? After some research online, I learned that, sure enough, otters can and do cross land to get from one body of water to another. I even found a video of an otter running exactly as I had seen. What an interesting experience!