West Virginia office seeking information about river otters

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — The West Virginia Division of Natural Resources wants to learn more about the state’s river otter population and is asking trappers for help.

The agency wants 50 to 75 otter carcasses each year during the next five trapping seasons and is offering $20 gift cards for each useable carcass.

The division says it will use reproductive and age data collected from the carcasses to model the state’s population and get a better idea of how the otters would respond to changes in bag limits and season lengths.

Carcasses may be delivered to district offices or arrangements can be made to have them picked up.

More information is available by contacting a district office or emailing Rich.E.Rogers@wv.gov or calling (304) 822-3551.

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Kassie Simmons
Kassie Simmons joined the team in January 2019 as a weekend journalist. She graduated from Virginia Tech in just two and a half years with a BA in multimedia journalism. During her short time at Virginia Tech, she served as the editor for the university’s chapter of The Tab. Kassie was named the top reporter for The Tab at Virginia Tech on multiple occasions and made the list for the top 30 reporters for The Tab in the U.S. She also studied theater performance and minored in creative writing. Before coming to WOAY, Kassie interned at WSLS in Roanoke and the Tidewater Review in her hometown of West Point, Va. She has loved following breaking news since her childhood and has a passion for delivering the stories people care most about. Kassie is excited to be working in Southern West Virginia and looks forward to all the adventures ahead of her. You can follow her on Twitter at @KassieLSimmons and like her page on Facebook. If you have a story you think she should check out, send her an email at ksimmons@woay.com.