The Shetland couple who opened their hearts and home to an orphaned otter

It was March 2021 when Billy met Molly. He had seen the little otter once or twice previously, fishing out in the sea loch near his home, and one day settled down at the water’s edge, just to see how close she’d come. “She dragged herself out of the water up onto the pontoon right in front of me with a crab which she started eating,” said Billy. “She was tiny, just a bag of bones.” He said hello to her.

“She turned round and looked me right in the eye, then carried on eating, very unusual, she should have scarpered – testament to how desperate she was.”

Otters eat crabs only if they’re seriously hungry, as getting the meat out of the shell burns up more calories than there are it in the first place. Billy got her a juicy fish to eat instead, and she took it. The seeds of a very special relationship were sown…

Molly and Billy connecting on the pontoon.(National Geographic/Charlie Hamilton James)

Billy Mail and his wife Susan moved to Shetland to enjoy a slower pace of life. Billy was born in Shetland, and it was in his blood, his wife told me. Married for five years, they had an old cottage by the sea which they moved into in October 2018, with extensive plans to fix it up. Then the Covid epidemic hit, and everything stopped for a while.

Billy’s actual phone footage of his first significant encounter with Molly the starving otter opens an extraordinary new programme from National Geographic, already shown in the US and due to be broadcast in the UK next week.

Billy & Molly: An Otter Love Story charts the bond that blossomed between a human and an animal in need. It’s a heartwarming testament to the way things can be between man and Nature with a little kindness, patience, compassion and a lot of trust.

It’s not your usual facts and figures wildlife documentary. This is a truly beautiful film, visually stunning, spiritually uplifting, with gorgeous light and landscapes, expansive Shetland skies streaked with reds and mauve above still, glistening silver-blue water below. It is visual poetry.

Molly curled up and asleep in a rope coil. (credit: National Geographic/Johnny Rolt)

For sure, Molly would have died without intervention. It had been a hard winter, explained Susan, who works at the local airport in Sumburgh.

Molly was around six months old when she first arrived. She was on her own. A female otter who had been found dead on a local road was possibly Molly’s mum.

“Billy is one of the most empathetic people I have ever met,” said Susan.

“He grew up with animals and knows when they are happy and healthy or in need. He can’t bear to see animals suffering and when he saw Molly alone and in desperate need, his natural instinct was to try to help her.”

In the days that followed, Billy regularly brought an upturned box down to the beach and put fish under it for his new friend.

She would come and go, she didn’t hang about, but when she got stronger it was almost as if Molly was looking for Billy as well as coming for food.

“We nicknamed her Greta Garbo because she would come and lay on the pontoon and stare at the house, waiting for Billy to come out with food.

“She knew that she needed to be fed and Billy knew she needed help.

“She brought a smile to his face that stayed with him,” Susan continued. “Molly quickly became part of the family.”

The little otter took over their lives that spring. Billy, who worked at an energy recovery plant in Lerwick at the time, bought a book about otters.

He also purchased a new freezer and stuffed it full of haddock and mackerel he’d caught for Molly. She loved salmon, said Susan, but that was too expensive to have daily.

It seemed probable that her mother hadn’t been around long enough to teach her life skills, so Billy would guide Molly into the shallows to catch small fish in the seaweed. He made her a bath filled with fresh water – Shetland otters must carefully rid their fur of the salt from seawater to retain its insulating qualities.

One day, an Amazon delivery dropped off a large bag of colourful balls – a present from “dad”. Molly’s sheer delight in playing with them is obvious to see as she ducks and dives amongst them in an old mussel float Billy had cut in half.

He recognised the need to nurture and protect Molly while she was vulnerable. It is perhaps her reaction to him that’s so unusual.

“It’s in my DNA to try to get close to a wild animal. It’s something I have done since I was a kid,” said Billy, who grew up around animals. “The simplicity of nature and the innocent playfulness of baby animals brings something out of you, that young, carefree side of you.”

In the remarkable new film, the joy on Billy’s face is there for all to see as a cheeky Molly rubs herself dry on his jacket.

Like any good father, Billy continued to take care of his wee girl while she got bigger and bolder and healthier.

He built her a special home near the water, complete with cosy bed, camera and wi-fi, and photos of Billy, Susan and Jade, their well-loved pet dog, on the walls.

Jade is a gorgeous, eight-year-old, reluctant sheepdog, as “mum and dad” call her, and she’s obsessed with balls. From the first meeting Molly and Jade showed a healthy curiosity towards each other, neither of them ever showing any aggression or bad feeling, said Billy.

Jade gets plenty of time playing ball and cuddling with Billy and Susan, even if in the film it looks somewhat as if Molly hogs all the attention. Within minutes of my arriving at the family home, she’d padded over to me to make friends and present her toy. This is certainly not a neglected pet.

Molly, however, is absolutely not a pet, the couple insist. It has never been their intention to tame her.

“We do not bring her in the house, she’s a wild animal and lives the life of a wild, free otter. She fishes for herself and lives with other otters in the voe,” Susan emphasised.

Despite Molly being in the doghouse after occasionally trashing Susan’s flowers, and even helping herself to the slice of lime from mum’s gin and tonic, Susan agrees she would most definitely miss her were she to disappear.

Molly does have a full, free life way beyond their garden. She often retires to her hideouts, called holts – each otter may have five or six. There are fish to catch, coves to explore and other otters to hang out with.

At the moment, Molly still comes back occasionally, to the obvious delight of the Mails. Sometimes she comes with a surprise, as those who watch the documentary will discover.

“Molly was a breath of fresh air in a particularly busy period of our lives,” said Billy.

“Observing her, meeting her basic needs – food, shelter, warmth – grounds you a bit, makes you think about what’s really important, this little animal that had a far greater need than we did.

“She made us laugh, made us smile, and brought a little joy into our world.”

Billy & Molly: An Otter Love Story produced by Silverback Films, from director Charlie Hamilton James and producer Jeff Wilson is streaming on Disney+ from 14 November, and airs on 15 November at 8pm on the National Geographic channel