SUAMICO (NBC 26) — Ophelia the otter has returned home after she and another otter escaped their habitat during a recent storm.
According to the NEW Zoo's social media, Ophelia was safely secured Friday night, thanks to Suamico Trap, LLC, and she spent a few days behind-the-scenes for observations.
A full veterinary exam yesterday revealed that she is in perfect health.
She's been returned to the regular otter habitat this morning, but she might not always be visible to guests.
Ophelia has always been a bit shy and enjoys tucking into things to take naps throughout the day.
Ophelia and Louie first escaped March 20 through a fence which was weaked by a storm. The zoo has since reinforced the area where the furry fugitives first made a run for it.
"In fact we even added a lower electric wire strand to the fencing just so they can't even really investigate," Northeastern Wisconsin Zoo Director Carmer Murach said.
Suamico Trap owner Jeremy Ebner said they had to place a trap somewhere only an otter could go to catch Ophelia.
"We did what's called fencing, so really if she wanted to continue up the creek she had to go into it," Ebner said. "We obviously had added some bait to it that would be appealing to her that maybe would draw her in, and then [luckily] she cooperated and went in for us."
According to the NEW Zoo, "We continue the search for Louie and appreciate folks in the general area of the Zoo to continue to send in your reports of sightings."
Experts say it's otter breeding season, and they expect expect that, as a male otter, Louie is likely ranging a bit further from home than Ophelia did, but it's still likely that he's not all that far away.
Zoo workers and Suamico Trap are continuing to use motion-activated cameras to track his movement.
NBC 26 will provide updates as this story develops.
