I recently put up these two otters but one des not look to be prime. The one looks to be early season while the other looks to be later. Both where caught on the same area just a few days ago so why the difference?

It happens.Some otter are just in better shape then others.Happens in all furbearers.

Send the one on the right to the auction send the one on the left to the tannery.
How does the fur side look in comparison to the one on the right?
Sometimes excess oil in the fur can make the skin look black on a prime pelt.But usually if that is the case,it is not all over the pelt.
Regardless it will be downgraded at the auction house and probably by a middleman buyer also.
If the fur side looks good it might tan up fine.

My first two otter were both caught in WI around the beginning of February and they looked exactly like those two. They appeared so different even the warden who registered them questioned whether or not I was being truthful about when I caught them. After he sent some pictures to the state biologist he informed me that the biologist said those markings are common on females during the breeding period and could be scars or bruising from fighting with males.

Thanks for the reply. Boco, these were caught by our local CO personally. He is interested in trapping and just getting started so I know everything is on the up and up.
Wiplumber; both are males and the darker one is like that all over so it's not bruising. Both are still on the boards for a few more days but it looked good before I boarded it. Both are going to the tannery with the first one being his first otter and the second one is black and wants a hat made from it.
I talked to a local old timer who has trapped since Shep was a pup and he said every once in awhile they look like that.

Welcome to the world of fur. During prime time some animals just don't prime up, that is why they get graded. Have you ever seen the pelt of one caught in a cable retraint? It will look like chain-link.

I’d catch 150-200 in the southeast on a regular season. While most were prime this time of year, I’d get maybe 3 or 4 out of every hundred that just didn’t thicken their leather - or gain a lot of fat - for some reason. I wondered if they were getting old or if they were just living somewhere where their biology didn’t think they needed to prepare for cooler temps. Though temps are only a small part of priming.

Some otters just look like that and in most cases if you stretched them fur side out nobody could tell the difference. It used to infuriate me that FHA graded them section III.

I just recently sold this otter for $70 at the ITA sale. Got the same $$ for two others just like it. This buyer knows and buys most of the otters on the western sales and doesn't care about freckling.

Nice big otter bp.
That door is gay.