River Otters

CNM

Class: Mammalia

Order: Carnivora

Family: Mustelidae

Genus: Lutra

Species: River Otter

River Otters are really cool animals. They’re also really cute. River Otters can be found all over Canada and the U.S.A.

River otters live by rivers, streams, ponds, marshes, and lakes. Of course they are all bodies of water. Otters love to swim and slide on their bellies, kind of like penguins. They like to swim down icy, snow covered, and muddy hills.

River otters are great swimmers. Believe it or not, but they can hold their breath for six through eight minutes underwater. Their ears and nostrils close when they go underwater. I think it is very interesting that they can do that. Their short legs and webbed feet help them swim. River otters like to dive into the water. They guide themselves through the water with their hind legs, and their tail.

Otters can practically survive in any kind of weather. We know this because in the U.S.A., and Canada there are cold days, warm days, hot days, chilly days, sunny days, cloudy days, and rainy days. The only place they can’t live is Antarctica .

River otters eat many things. They eat crustaceans, like crabs, crayfish, slow swimming fish, trout, amphibians, some insects, small mammals, and birds. They have a wide variety of foods to eat.

River otters have slender bodies. They tend to be long too. River otters grow to be about 3ft to4ft long. Their tail alone is 1 to 1 1/2ft long. Usually their weight ranges from 44lbs to 82lbs.

River otters have great hearing. Plus they are really flexible. For hunting, otters have a great sense of smell.

An otter is a large type of weasel. River otters are light and dark brown. Otters groom themselves with their forepaws. They groom themselves to keep their fur waterproof.

To tell you the truth, otters actually make sounds to communicate. Just like humans. They don’t talk, but they do make some odd sounds.

Otters do have predators. It isn’t good that otters have predators because they are already endangered. Their predators are Bald Eagles, some bears, and Coyotes.

River otters are hunted animals. People hunt them because they have beautiful, dense fur. I think otters shouldn’t be hunted. They are so cute. Why can’t they just be left alone?

River otters are nocturnal. That means that they are more active at night. During the day they rest in underground dens.

River otters reproduce just like all the other animals in the world. In one litter there are usually up to five pups. A pup is a baby otter. The mother otter protects her young from predators.

The pups are born on land. When the pups are born, they are blind, and they don’t have teeth. The pups don’t open their eyes until they are about one month old. Pups start to swim when they are two months old. When they reach four months, they learn to dive and catch their own food. The pups stay with their mother until the next litter of pups is born. Otters are wonderful animals to learn about and research.