SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — There’s an abundance of wildlife across KELOLAND, but one mammal that once disappeared from the local landscape is making a comeback while remaining a mystery.
As the sun and steam rise west of Sioux Falls, musician-turned-wildlife photographer John Mogen is in his natural habitat.
“I love hawks, eagles, turkeys, those big birds of prey,” photographer John Mogen said.
He says the secret to a good picture is no secret at all.
“I just use my eye. I’ve studied a little bit, a third, a third, a third, but I don’t know, I like to zoom in on the subject,” Mogen said.
On this early morning, Mogen, who bought his first camera in 1983, is attempting to bring the river otter into focus.
“Growing up in northeast South Dakota, see a lot of animals but I’ve just never seen otters before,” Mogen said.
“I lived here for 79 years and until two years ago never saw a river otter,” avid outdoorsman Dan Griffith said.
Dan Griffith is a conservationist and former biology teacher. He says otters vanished from South Dakota more than 100 years ago but were reintroduced a few decades ago near Flandreau.
“People trapping mink all of a sudden would accidentally catch a river otter, and so we realized they were back,” Griffith said.
They’re now making their way south.
“I had been seeing signs and I was pretty sure they were here and I came out one morning and there was a family of five, two adults and three young ones,” Griffith said.
It’s an encounter Griffith says is worth the early wake-up call.
“I wish I could share it with all the students I’ve ever had or would love to have. I wish I could share it with the whole world,” Griffith said.
As for Mogen, the experience didn’t disappoint.
“Not at all. We’re going to see some more,” Mogen said.
And he won’t be sharing his whereabouts.
“I can’t tell you where but that’s the fun part of finding animals that not too many people see,” Mogen said.
The river otter was removed from South Dakota’s threatened species list in 2020, allowing for a trapping season. The harvest limit was 20 otters last year, and the season lasted less than three weeks in November.
