Well folks, it seems as though the otters and the orcas are officially out to get us.
I think a lot of people were put on high alert with otters after one caused a woman in Montana to be airlifted from her relaxing river day. From that point on, I’ve learned that we better put some respect on otters.
Though they might be small, they can pack a violent punch, as one man in California found out. Matt Leffers was vacationing at a cabin on Serene Lake on September 3rd when he encountered a violent otter as he was swimming.
Earlier in the year, an otter attack was actually reported in the exact same lake. Leffers knew that was the case, but decided to try and avoid the area where the attack occurred and still decided to dive into the water for a dip.
He told Field and Stream:
“Normally I would swim around the lake, but I knew where she got bit, so I didn’t go over to that side of it. I was swimming back to the cabin, and I felt something tug hard on my right calf.”
Imagine swimming along in the water and feeling a sharp pain from something tugging at your calf. The teeth of the otters sunk into the man’s leg, then started attacking him from all direction, and Leffers started to panic:
“I’m like, ‘Oh, sh*t.” They bit me at least ten times and would not let me escape. I got bit on every single limb. Then they bit my ass. It really hurt. They had me trapped. They were so fast.
I could only see them when they popped their heads out of the water near me. I started screaming for help, but there was nobody on the lake.”
Terrifying circumstances made the otter attack that much more scary for Leffers, who thought that he was all alone out on the water. However, like a knight in shining armor (I think the female term would actually be dame), Leffers wife Kristie came out to save him:
“Then, out of the blue, my wife came in on a paddle board. I had never been more relieved in my life because I’d thought I was a goner. I thought I was done.”
Imagine being killed by an otter. People would certainly have some questions at the funeral service, but luckily Matt Leffers and his wife didn’t have to worry about that. Kristie got the paddle board out to him and he was able to climb on, then paddle away to safety.
The otter encounter was truly (somehow) a brush with death, and one that Leffers won’t soon forget:
“It was like escaping a life-or-death situation. I can’t tell you how traumatic it was. It was a nightmare.
I love to swim and have a big triathlon coming up in October. I can’t wait to get back in the water, but I am not getting back into Serene Lake this year.”
Leffers was treated for his many puncture wounds at the Tahoe Forest Hospital, and also received eight stitches on his arm, along with a rabies shot.
Yeesh…
A Montana woman was recently attacked, and left with gruesome bite marks all over her face and body.
