A Man and an Otter Have a Thing In Scotland
What happens when a wild animal becomes more like a beloved pet? Not merely a pet, but a family member who fills an emotional void? These are the questions at the heart of a new documentary by National Geographic, “Billy & Molly: An Otter Love Story.”
Molly is a young river otter who washes up on the dock of Billy Mail, who lives with his wife and dog – and not much else – on a thinly populated Shetland island in the northernmost reaches of the UK.
Unlike other otters, Molly is not skittish around humans. Billy thinks she is starving and has not been taught how to fish for herself. Did she lose her mother? No matter – he’ll supply the orphan with food. At a loss for how to raise a wild river otter, Billy buys a book for guidance but it doesn’t really help so he wings it as best he can. There’s a lot of fish involved – salmon, haddock, and catch-of-the-day. Does Billy understand that wild river otters can live up to 17 years? Probably not.
In short order Billy becomes attached to the girl and, as such, he spends a lot of time fishing. He builds a tiny house for Molly, complete with wifi – an amenity the humans themselves don’t have – so that he can watch over her on an otter cam.
Before all this gets out of hand, Billy realizes Molly is neither a pet nor a surrogate child. And when a male otter inevitably enters the equation, it’s time to let go.
The rhythms of this film are slow, with long lingering views of the Shetlands under the eye of wildlife cameraman and National Geographic photographer Charlie Hamilton James. Drones captured a lot of the aerial footage, but we also get an underwater view of Molly’s world — the fish, kelp forests, an occasional seal.
Donning a wetsuit, mask, and snorkel, Billy swims with Molly and sees her in her element for the first – and last – time. She’s such a graceful creature, it’s almost startling. These closing scenes are poignant, as they are the last time man and otter will be together. Molly will move on, and Billy will be sad but satisfied: he did right by his adopted child.
“Billy & Molly: An Otter Love Story” is streaming on Hulu.
Photo credit: IMDb
