They are active both day and night hunting both in and out of the water. In their role as predators, otters help regulate the local population of the organisms they consume. They bite their female partner's face during copulation to keep her from slipping away, leaving her with … Some young otters will remain with their romp for life, others will head out on their own when they are between 1 and 4 years old to establish a territory. 3 questions for you to ask your children after reading it: Mr. Owl challenged Mr. Rabbit to treat the Otters the way he would like to be treated. Male sea otters sometimes look outside their own species to inflict themselves on other animals. Their antics appear on memes, go viral, and can definitely make you smile, but looks can be deceiving. Most river otter species are generally monogamous and they may even mate for life. They can store a few food items and rocks in the loose skin under their forelimbs that form pseudo-pouches, tucking away as many as a dozen clams or other small items. This is really amazing, don't you agree? River otter mothers have been known to push or drop their youngsters in the water to teach them to swim, which comes naturally of course. The coolest of all otter facts is that they use tools to crack open the shells of crabs and clams. The mother will produce milk, hunt and teach the pup how to dive for food until the youngster is five to eight months old and can fend for itself. They are notorious for body surfing down snowy hills. It takes a long time to teach all this to a baby otter, and they don't have all the knowledge they need to survive until they are 6 to 8 months old. Sea otters are a little like seals in that they may be found in very large groups, floating in the water in what is called a "raft of otters", but don't have particularly close relationships, or friendships. Females give birth to 2 to 6 babies called pups, that are well-furred, but otherwise helpless with closed eyes and ears. Recreational juggling may be a playful way of learning how best to manipulate these tools. Baby sea otters are born quite precocious, or well-developed. Once they deliver their pups, the pups will stay in the nest for anywhere from 8 to 10 weeks before they can finally learn to … Discover our favourite incredible otter facts, including facts about sea otters, perhaps the cutest of them all. Southern sea otters can live to approximately 15 years for males and 16 years for females. They have, as the name suggests, small nails on their paws that are shorter than the length of the digits. Sea otters can reach 9kph underwater, North American river otters are faster at 11kph, and the maximum speed of the giant river otter is an impressive 14kph. When faced with danger, otters show their babies to make the predator feel compassion for them. The giant otter has an unusual nose as well, because it is furred and looks almost like the nose of a monkey. African Animals - Animal Facts Encyclopedia, Great Apes Facts - Animal Facts Encyclopedia, River otters love to body surf in the snow, Mother sea otters wrap their babies in kelp or seaweed while they dive, Otter poop has its own special name - "spraint", The sea otter has the densest coat of any mammal, Sea otter fur has one million individual hairs per square inch, Sea otters use rocks as tools to break open clams and crab shells, The sea otter is the smallest marine mammal, Fisherman in Bangladesh used trained otters to help them net the catch of the day. Furry, playful and very, very smart, otters are beloved for their adorable antics and sweet appearance. These include spraint sites on exposed roots and stones, worn slides on muddy banks and tracks showing five webbed toes. The European otter, also known as the Eurasian otter, or the common otter, has the widest range of all otter species. Otter groups are called a family, bevy, lodge, or a romp. Sea otters live in the cold waters of the Pacific Ocean and lead a very active lifestyle. The activity that most closely resembles this is within another polygynous species, the fur seal, attempting to rape king penguins in Antarctica, but this is activity that has been observed only recently, and there are no reports of the seals keeping and engaging with dead bodies for any length of time. Some mother sea otters have also been observed hoisting their babies up on boat decks or docks to rest while they dive. If the fur gets dirty, the otter won't float, and will loose body heat. Many species of river-dwelling otter can swim quite quickly – they have to be strong swimmers to catch fish and fight the flow of the river. It takes 12 to 14 weeks for the adult fur to grow in, the last 2 to 3 weeks of which time the baby slowly loses its extreme buoyancy, and begins to experiment with diving and foraging itself. There are 12 species of otters, (13 until the Japanese river otter was declared extinct in only 2012), found all over the world except Australia and Antarctica. Those baby otters will grow into adult otters. Mothers teach babies the proper selection of food items as well, and will even hunt and forage in areas with smaller creatures that the baby can manipulate, even though the mother otter would prefer larger prey. Riversides often lack the appropriate cover for otters to lie up during the day. The mother will produce milk, hunt and teach the pup how to dive for food until the youngster is five to eight months old and can fend for itself. Sea otters eat about 20-30% of their body weight each day. The head is broad and somewhat flat with small ears and a powerful, well defined muzzle framed by very long, highly sensitive whiskers, called vibrissae. This behavior has been a part of their existence since as long as they have been studied by naturalists, and does not seem to be leaving the gene pool, although it would seem that less violent males should be reproducing at a higher rate. But our local species is on the rebound. As prey, otters provide a great source of nutrients to animals that hunt them for food. The river otter is agile in water and on land, in fact there are two different names for a group of otters - a raft of otters if they are in the water, and a romp of otters if they are on land. But plenty of animals are sexually frustrated without committing rape and necrophilia. You can learn all about them here – Otters of the World. The female is pregnant for about 4 months and gives birth in the water. Mating season is all-year round. The mother will leave the baby on the surface while she dives for food, often safely tucked in a bed of floating kelp. River otters spend equal amounts of time on land and water, and will build a den, called a holt, on the banks, or sometimes in the middle of their lake or stream. Most river otter species are generally monogamous and they may even mate for life. There are reports that similar attacks have been committed on seabirds like cormorants, and even one case believed to be quite legitimate, of a dog being the victim. A daily food intake of 15–20 per cent of body weight is key to survival, and otters adapt their patterns of predation and hunting behaviour to make the most of the prey available during these leaner months. And going by a plethora of YouTube videos, we can now add juggling rocks to the list. Sea otters have a high metabolic rate (that is, they use a high amount of energy) that is 2-3 times that of other mammals their size. However, when tackling species with the heaviest armour, such as as marine snails and thick-shelled bivalves, sea otters often employ tools. Fortunately, Russia, Japan, Canada and the U.S. signed a treaty to ban the hunting of sea otters and fur seals in 1911, and the recovery of the species has been, for the most part, a success. The males tend to be bigger, and the females may have pink wounds on their noses from mating wounds. Already have an account with us? The explanation may lie in the fact that otters are polygynous, meaning only a few dominant males mate with the majority of females, leaving allot of frustrated boys to do what they may do. Mating itself is often forced on females. You can see why only 50 per cent of youngsters survive to see the spring. They are marine mammals, existing almost exclusively in the Pacific Ocean, and rarely coming ashore. Otters (both sea and river otters) play a notable role in the animal food chain. In fact, sea otters are one of the only mammals (apart from primates) to have developed tool use. The primary injuries are usually to the muzzle and nose of the female, which the male will bite and hold onto. (Also, cute photos, of course). Leave a comment in the box below. More surprisingly, sea otters are quite slow swimmers, although they are extremely agile. A female Otter can spend up to 8 hours a day nursing. The giant otters however, are fairly distinctive, with noticeably darker fur that looks almost black when wet, and a unique, round head shape. And you definitely don’t want to mess with giant otters, just check out this clip below! And while the otters in the video happen to be river otters, if adult male river otters are anything at all like adult male sea otters, they should be kept away from all other animals at any cost. Therefore, sea otters need to eat daily and eat 20 to 25% of food from their own weight. The nosepad, in some cases, is bitten off, or left hanging, and death may result from that injury, or injuries to the head and neck. They are actually the largest member of the weasel, or mustelid family, but they are considered the smallest marine mammal. Many are mostly solitary apart from the breeding season, whereas others live in groups all year round. All of these behaviors are passed down from mother to baby, and different uses and preferences for tools can be seen among different populations. All river otters are designed for semi-aquatic life. For example, they transfer marine-derived nitrogen to the terrestrial ecosystem. Many otters eat tough food, particularly sea otters that inhabit the shallow coastal waters of the northern Pacific. In environments where sea otter populations have been reintroduced, tall kelp forests are flourishing. Otter watching involves perseverance. Latter is the thickest of any mammal in an oil spill will die without intervention will... 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