Matthew H.

Otters

Otters are really cool animals. They spend most of their life in the water. They are very playful and and they are very smart. Imagine if you were an otter!   

        

River Otters:

      River otters like to have fun. They actually make time in the day for playing because they are very playful. They slide down mud banks, tunnel under snow and then pop up, and like bobbing and diving.They are excellent swimmers in the water. They swim with powerful movements from their tails and hind legs.

They have a long body, short brown fur, small ears, fairly broad skull, a blunt muzzle, torpedo-shaped bodies, stream-lined tails, and webbed feet. They measure to about 43 inches from tip of nose to tip of tail. They weigh up to 20 pounds.

River otters are partly aquatic but they aren’t fully aquatic mammals. They are quiet at home in the water. River otters are usually found in/or very close to rivers, streams, and lakes, now and then they’ll plunge into ocean water. They live in wet habitats or homes throughout much of North America from Florida's Everglades to cold Alaskan rivers.

River otters are active day or night, in water or on land. They can move up to 20 miles per hour on land and they are amazingly quick underwater. They are much more at home in the water than on land. They stay awake throughout the seasons, and they don’t hibernate in the winter.

River otters are predators to fish, frogs, crabs, turtles,and other aquatic animals. Elsewhere, they hunt birds,rabbits,and rodents. River otters are part of the weasel family and so are the other otters. Adult otters have little fear from predators. Baby otters fear predators such as, owls, foxes, and alligators.

      

Young otters are usually born in the spring. There are usually 2 to 3 pups in a litter. When the otters are about 2 months old, they pop out from their underground den where they were born. They learn to swim when they are about 3 months old. They spend their first year of life traveling with their mother.  

River otters spend most of their lives in the water and like to have fun.