Back in 2012, “American Idol” judge Luke Bryan purchased a 180-acre cow pasture in Tennessee, and spent the next few years transforming the property into a family retreat that included a 10,000-square-foot home, a 7,000-square-foot party barn and his own private lake stocked with largemouth bass.
That lake has become a solace for him, where he can unwind by fishing on his own private lake/bass farm.
However, one thing he hadn’t factored in was local wildlife encroaching on his beloved lake to gobble up all the fish — which led to a response that would likely not go over to well with the folks at PETA.
Al the Otter
A few months back, Luke Bryan appeared on the “Katie & Company” nationally syndicated radio show, where he presented host Katie Neal with a somewhat unique gift: a stuffed otter named Al.
While his presentation of the taxidermist-created white otter was detailed via Instagram, Bryan explained the rationale behind Al’s fate during a subsequent appearance on “Katie & Company.”
“Well, it’s a white otter,” Bryan pointed out.
“If you’re trying to have a bass farm to where you want beautiful, healthy, large-mouth bass … Who was Superman’s nemesis? Lex Luthor. Largemouth bass, their Lex Luthor is otters, and they’re not welcome,” he said, explaining that he’s had to start trapping and exterminating otters that invade his lake.
“They are not our friends,” he said, “and this one just happened to come down the wrong little trail.”
An Otter Disaster
Those hungry otters have been the bane of Bryan’s existence for some time now.
Back in 2024 when Bryan appeared on “The Joe Rogan Experience,” he explained why otters would be wise to avoid his property.
“Man, we live just south of Nashville. We got 180 acres. I’ve got neighborhoods all around us, man. About every night an email goes out. Little Fluffy’s gone. We put six coyote traps out on my farm. One night. Six for six,” Bryan said.
“And let me tell you what else is a little vicious son of a [expletive]. A [expletive] otter. Oh yeah. Otters will [expletive] you up,” Bryan continued, explaining that otters will gobble up the fish in his lake faster than he can populate it.
“Otters come up into my bass pond [and] the fish are gone. The otters eat one and play with the other ones that they kill … they will roll through there and eat my all female [bass] and just throw them up on the bank. There’s carcasses. There’s… well, you get four otters in your pond on a 17-acre lake. They’ll eat 20 bass a night. The problem is you don’t know you’ve been got until you’ve been got. And so, Joe, to grow a 10-pound bass is about $3,000. And think about it, I’ve been loving on these damn fish. I’ve been walking out there making sure they’re happy so we can all catch them and yeah, look at them. And then damn, damn, damn, them otters … we’ll put traps out, dude, and man, they just keep coming.”
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Playful Luke Bryan Explains His Odd & ‘Vicious’ Gift to Radio Host