Otters reach swim speeds of up to 7 miles per hour. This pace is three times faster than the average human swimmer. Otters can hold their breath for 3-4 minutes, closing their nostrils and ears to keep out water. Powerful tails propel them through the water. River otters have webbing between their toes to aid them as well.
Few animals play as adults, and otters are one of them. Researchers found that playful sliding on a riverbank was not just efficient locomotion, but play. Rock juggling doesn't improve hunting skills or efficient extraction of meat from shells. Instead, researchers learned, they are more likely to juggle rocks when hungry or bored. Young and old otters most often juggle rocks. Playfulness does disappear, though, when food is scarce. This suggests that the otters must first satisfy their nutritional needs before engaging in playful behaviors.
Otters are cute, furry water animals that hold hands and groom each other to bond. Because they’re so cute, there’s been a high demand to own them as pets, but they may not be a good choice.
Illegal poaching and sales have hurt the global otter population. Pet otters are sought after in many Asian countries like Japan, Thailand, and Malaysia.
Freshwater otters live in family groups of up to 15 in the wild. When they’re captured and sold as pets, otters are not living their full, natural lives. Your bathtub or pool can’t substitute for the large bodies of water otters are naturally found in.
The Asian small-clawed otter is the smallest species of otter. It is the most common type trapped and sold as pets. Many Asian countries have taken measures to protect them through bans and regulation.
Otters need space to roam. They aren’t easily housetrained and they’re very active, social animals. Keeping an otter as a solitary pet can make them very sad. Not having enough entertainment or putting stress on your pet otter can also lead to destructive, aggressive behavior. Living in captivity is simply not a good life for an otter.
Otters are wild animals. Owning native otters is illegal in many countries including the UK, Japan, and the U.S. Yet otters are still being illegally smuggled into these countries to be sold as pets.
Loud noises. Otters make loud whistling or screeching noises. They can be very destructive when they don’t get what they want.
Strong odor. Otters have an odor that lingers around them. Their unpleasant smell can permeate a home if they live indoors. They also mark their territory by smearing their feces around, which contributes to the odor.
Aggression when stressed. When otters are agitated or stressed they can bite and become aggressive. Their bite is sharp and piercing. If you are bit by an otter, you'll need to treat the wound immediately. Also watch for signs of bacterial infection to the wound.
Messy housemates. Otters can be destructive. If left untrained, they can leave many droppings around the house. They are wild animals and do not like to be restrained.
Owning an otter is a big commitment. If you have adopted one, you’ll need to have the proper habitat for it. They need plenty of space and care.
An otter’s enclosure needs to be large enough for them to get exercise and forage. They need a much larger enclosure than a typical dog. Likely, your otter will spend most of its life in the enclosure. Otters need a tropical climate. Their ideal temperature is 75 to 85 degrees. They’ll need a dry area as well as a pool. If they are constantly wet, they can develop health conditions.
Otters like to climb and dig, so your enclosure will need a top and to be dug into the ground. The best enclosure for an otter is outside. Living inside comes with many challenges, like cleaning up otter feces and keeping your furniture intact. Otters can be destructive and are difficult to housetrain.
An otter’s diet can vary. You can give them a complete cat food as the base, but make sure that over half of their diet is meat-based. You should include fish. Supplement their diet with vegetables, soft-boiled eggs, and insects.
Otters can carry and transmit dangerous bacteria like Salmonella and Streptococcus phocae to you and your other animals.
Otters can also be loud and destructive. They can cause damage to your home and hurt other animals in your family. Dogs and otters do not get along. If you have a dog in your home, they can get into fights with your otter.
Dogs and otters can transmit diseases to each other as well. Dogs can infect otters with canine distemper and rabies. Otters can give dogs Salmonella, just like humans. Otters may bite when threatened and are not good housemates.
Buy OtterThey need plenty of space to roam and to be with their family. They thrive in social settings within their natural habitat. Sadly, due to the difficulties that come with owning an otter, many are abandoned or discarded to rescue groups.
There are 13 types of otter in the world, of all different shapes and sizes. Members of the otter family include the South American giant otter — which can reach up to 1.7m in length; the Asian small-clawed otter — the smallest of the otter family; and the sea otter, the heaviest, weighing in at up to 45kg.
The otter is part of the weasel family which includes other carnivorous animals like the weasel, stoat, badger, mink and ferret. But the otter is the only one of this family who’s taken to the water.
Otters have been highly successful in making their habitats in oceans, lakes, rivers and wetlands around the world. They can be found from North to South America, Africa to Asia, and all across Europe. However, otters have never set up shop in Australia or Antarctica.
Otters have teeth perfectly adapted for crushing their favourite food — fish, shellfish and crabs! While crabs form as much as 80 per cent of the otter’s diet, they will also eat other water creatures such as fish and snails as well as small land animals such as lizards, frogs and mice. Otters will use their sensitive paws, claws and stiff whiskers to forage for food. They need to eat often and will hunt throughout the day — up to five hours!
Because most otters live in and around cold water, they have to have to keep warm — and the best way they do that is by keeping their metabolism up. This means eating lots of food! The sea otter has to eat around 20 per cent of its body weight everyday and the European otter around 15 per cent. That’s a lot of fish.
If one of your favourite foods includes shellfish, you’re going to need something to break them open. When sea otters dive to the bottom of the ocean to find their food, they also bring up small rocks to smash the shellfish open. Dinner is served.
If one of your favourite foods includes shellfish, you’re going to need something to break them open. When sea otters dive to the bottom of the ocean to find their food, they also bring up small rocks to smash the shellfish open. Dinner is served.
Otters are well known for their playfulness and sense of curiosity. Playing together helps keep family bonds strong and teaches the pups important skills such as how to find food. Otters have many sounds to communicate with, including different sounds for greeting, playing, courting and even a special call for raising the alarm! The otter’s great sense of smell also allows them to communicate using scent marks.
The Sea Otter lives in the cold coastal waters of the Pacific and spends most of its time out in the water. The Sea Otter has no blubber so keeps the cold at bay with the thickets fur in the world — around 150,000 hairs per square centimetre!
Perhaps because of their playful nature, otters have become part of myths and stories from cultures from all around the world. On a more practical level, small-clawed otters are traditionally trained in parts of India, China and South-east Asia to help fishermen: catching fish and returning them to the boat in exchange for a reward. Unfortunately, the relationship between otters and humans has not always been so mutual — otters have been hunted for their fur for hundreds of years.
Sadly, 12 out of 13 of the Otter species worldwide are under threat or endangered. Their numbers are declining due to reasons including hunting otters for the illegal fur trade, habitat destruction and reduction in available prey. They are also affected by pollution of waterways, including pesticide run-off from farmland. Water pollution and overfishing reduce the availability of prey species, such as crabs, that the otters eat.
Otters love water. So, they are found on the shores of rivers, lochs, waterways and coastal areas. The population is booming across Scotland after being pushed close to extinction back in mid 1900s. Relative to the UK, Scotland has a high proportion of the population, particularly on the western coast and islands. They are a protected species.
Whilst numbers are growing, they can still be difficult to spot. They spend most of their time in the water and sleep and breed in holts, which are normally caves, burrows or holes. Otters are not specifically nocturnal, but they are typically more active at night.
Otters need to eat at least 1kg of food per day and get most of their food from the water. Their fantastic swimming skills, waterproof fur, rudder-like tail and webbed feet make them brilliant aquatic hunters, and otters typically feed on fish, frogs and crustaceans. They also prey on birds and mammals on waterfronts.
Whilst otters are protected, they can get injured by snares, which may be set for pest control but indiscriminately harm lots of wildlife and domestic animals. The Scottish SPCA supports a complete ban on the use of snares.
Otters under a year old would not survive in the wild, so any youngsters need support. If a baby otter’s mother is killed or scared off, it will not be able to fend for itself. Many of the otters we rescue are babies, and come to our National Wildlife Rescue Centre where they stay until they are of age to make it on their own.