Otter Facts

Otters enjoy playing games, such as dropping pebbles into water and catching them on their heads!
The African clawless otter can move its thumb across the other fingers to hold onto objects.
Clawless otters gather tough-shelled freshwater mussels with their hands, and take them ashore to smash them on rocks.
When hunted by hounds, otters have been known to drag their pursuers under water and drown them.
Otters have special whiskers on their muzzles and elbows that are sensitive to water disturbances and help them to locate prey.
Giant otters clear a series of 7 m wide areas around their territories before scent-marking them.
The male Eurasian otter patrols a territory of up to 50 km of riverbank; the female’s territory is about 10 km.
The marine otter of the west coast of South America is the smallest sea mammal in the world, weighing no more than 4.5 kg.
Some types of otter, including the Cape clawless otter and the Oriental short-clawed otter, catch their prey in their paws rather than in their mouths.

This entry is filed under Interesting Facts.