Otters oughtta be out

by KEVIN STRAUSS

If you have been noticing more river otters out in area rivers and lakes, it’s not your imagination. River otters (Lutra canadensis) have been spending their spring and summer in “natal retreats” in small headwater streams and beaver ponds. Over the summer, the female otter has been teaching her young how to swim (yes, otters need to learn to swim) and how to catch the panfish, crayfish, and frogs that make up most of their diet. Now that fall is here, and the young are better able to take care of themselves, the otter family moves downstream to larger lakes where food is more plentiful.

Of course, this move means that the family will have to find another den site as well. During the spring, summer and fall, otters rest in dens with above-water entrances. They den in old bank lodges of beavers or muskrats, rock crevices, hollow logs or stumps or old groundhog burrows. In some cases, otters will eat muskrats before taking over their den, sort of a “bed and breakfast” deal for the otters. But in winter, they switch to dens with underwater entrances.

When you can only see an otter’s head and neck above the water, it is difficult to estimate how big they really are. This large member of the weasel family grows to four feet long and weighs up to 30 pounds. The body is slender and shoot through the water (or over the snow) like a torpedo.

One of the first things people think about otters is that they are playful, fun-loving animals. While scientists debate how much of otter activity is really “play” in the human sense, it is difficult to explain activities like sliding down a hill into the water, over and over again as anything but play.

Scientists do agree that otters are intelligent. And if otters are really “fun-loving” maybe that is because they have a relatively easy life. Their fur and fat layers keep them warm even when temperatures drop to 40 below zero. They have few natural predators and even human trapping doesn’t have a big impact in many areas. What’s more, they have a food source (fish and other water animals) that is so easily caught that they have plenty of time for hill sliding, pebble-juggling, water acrobatics and other antics.

While some anglers malign the playful otter for eating all of “their” gamefish, studies have shown that otters catch whatever is easiest to catch and that usually means the slower rough fish and feeder fish, rather than the fast and wary game species.

So the next time you are out on a lake, keep your eyes peeled for these playful water weasels. You’ll be glad you did.