On Wednesday of February vacation week, I was driving down Harwood Avenue at about 4:45 pm. As I was driving over the part of the road that divides part of Mill Pond, I noticed the shape of an animal sitting on the ice to my right. I recognized the long body and tail of an otter, and was so excited that I turned around and parked to watch the animal. The otter was sitting near a large area of open water, and when I stopped to watch it, it jumped into the water. I stayed for about fifteen minutes, and while I was there, the otter would dive down for about thirty seconds and then poke its head up and shake it. It seemed to be eating something. It also seemed to look directly at me a few times, as if it knew I was watching!
I have seen otters in zoos and aquariums before, but this was the first time I had seen one in the wild! I wondered why it was alone, and how it survives in the cold, icy water. I wondered why I had never seen one before.
To find out more about otters, I looked up "otter" on the Internet. I found out that there are thirteen different species of otter, including the giant river otter of South America, which can be up to six feet long! The scientific name of the American river otter is Lutra canadensis, and it's in the weasel family. It's closest relatives are weasels like minks and fisher cats, polecats (where do they live?) and badgers. For you evolution enthusiasts, otters have been around since the Pleistocene.
Otters eat fish, shellfish, other invertebrates, amphibians, birds and small mammals! I always just assumed that they ate fish, but I guess they eat more than that! Apparently they have a really fast metabolism, which means that they burn off their food really fast. This explains how they can keep warm in the icy water, and it means that they have to eat a lot.
Incidentally, I also saw a bobcat in Littleton in December!
(below) American river otters (Lutra canadensis)
Aren't they adorable?