They are powerful swimmers and eat a wide This includes frogs, crayfish, and even crabs. They have a distinctive loping gait but are remarkably agile. You can see the otter and tons of other animals on one of ourFlorida airboat rides. Few river otter predators exist in nature. General information. I could eat that many crab legs but would have a difficult time trying to eat that much broccoli in one sitting.). The tail is 40% of total body length and facilitates their strong swimming skills. These pups stay with their mother until autumn. River otters are smaller than their cousins, the sea otters. However, otters can be aggressive when necessary. They are all semiaquatic, aquatic or marine mammals, and subsist on diets mainly based on fish and invertebrates, such as mollusks. They are trapped for their warm waterproof pelts, but the main threat to their numbers is from habitat destruction or fragmentation and pollution. Members of the Mustelidae family, otters are related to weasels, badgers, honey badgers, martens, minks, polecats and wolverines. Their toes are webbed, they have short legs and they boast a tapered tail ranging up to 15 inches long. Unlike many specialized animals that are adapted to water and clumsy on land, otters can run quite wel also, up to 18 mph. Canadian Journal of Zoology: Seasonal Diet of the Northern River Otter (Lontra Canadensis): What Drives Prey Selection? The fat layer underneath their skin protects them from cold temperatures. River otters (Lontra canadensis) are amphibious mammals known for their swimming ability. (That’s the equivalent of 30 pounds of food for a 200-pound person. Otters in the Florida Everglades. 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Copyright 2021 Leaf Group Ltd. / Leaf Group Media, All Rights Reserved. Generally solitary, river otters do engage in play when they meet. They are found throughout Florida except for the Keys, but they are shy creatures and are seldom seen except by quiet kayakers. The otter is one of the few mammals that use tools. The river otter food chain consists mostly of fish. The juveniles stay with mother for the first year, reaching sexual maturity at two years of age. Mating season here is in the fall and winter, with a gestational period of about 60 days. long and narrow bodies. However, otters differ from similar species like beavers, muskrats, and nutria that feed on plants. They have long, narrow bodies, with long tails and short legs. Reaching a length of 3 to 5 feet, the adults are well-muscled and weigh from 10 to 30 pounds. But if you do decide to own an otter telling you how to properly care for your new family member. Their fur is thick a… The female births a litter of two to four pups in the spring. They eat 15% of their weight daily to fuel that furnace. Recently I watched as a solitary otter perched on the slightly submerged peat island and slowly devoured a huge, soft-shelled turtle. For this reason, the river otter must consume food often. River otters prefer larger fish due to ease of capture; larger prey gives river otters more energy as well. Crayfish, mollusks, frogs and fish might be the mainstay of an otter's diet, but that's not all they eat. There are hand sterilization stations available and social distancing will be encouraged. River otters belong to the weasel family. North American river otters, also called Canadian otters, have long, muscular, streamlined bodies with short legs and fully webbed feet bearing non-retractable claws. All you say and recommend is ethically against your Vet degree! The long whiskers around their noses, called vibrissae, aid in food searches in murkier waters. IUCN Otter Specialist Group Bulletin: Prey Preference of the North American River Otter (Lontra Canadensis) Evaluated Based on Optimal Foraging Theory. The North American river otter (Lontra canadensis) is a shy, if playful, weasel topping out at 30 pounds and five feet from head to tail.Otters are carnivores, eating mainly fish, crayfish, and frogs This tail serves to propel the otters through water. Young otters are called kits, and females have two to five on average in a litter. The river otter food web plays a crucial role in the environments the river otter calls home. GIANT OTTERS ARE SUPER CHATTY. River otters possess long, muscular bodies suited to their life on both land and in water. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. In case you need another reason to protect this species, try watching them in the wild (or at your nearest zoo’s breeding program) while they frolic and cavort. Otters live near lakes or ponds and burrow in ditches, so interaction with people can occur. They are partial to clean, unpolluted waterways and locations far away from the commotion of people. https://myfwc.com/wildlifehabitats/profiles/mammals/aquatic/river-otter They are born in a den that the mother has dug or commandeered from another animal, in the bank of a river, creek, or pond. River Otters. A female river otter exhibits delayed implantation of her fertilized egg, so that it will not implant on her uterus for several months. Fish is a favored food among the otters, but they also consume various amphibians (such as salamanders and frogs), freshwater clams, mussels, snails, small turtles and crayfish. River otters do not store food or hibernate in winter. They enjoy carp, sunfish, minnows, suckers, sculpin and salmonids such as: River otters also prefer slower-moving fish to game fish. Some of Port Charlotte’s and Punta Gorda’s brackish natural canals are frequently visited by otters, and they are occasionally spotted near the Harbor’s mangrove shorelines. Habitat loss and water pollution also took detrimental tolls on river otters. When winter arrives, river otters will hunt under ice for food. They have also been observed eating small mammals and occasionally even birds. Our otters eat a prepared meat diet and several types of … Needless to say it is hard to dispute the beauty and just overall awesomeness of the Florida otter. Without river otters, entire watershed food webs would suffer. signing up for our email newsletter today. River otters help thin invasive species and protect biodiversity. J. Dianne Dotson is a science writer with a degree in zoology/ecology and evolutionary biology. When cornered on land, they will fight and scratch. This is often supplemented by frogs, crayfish and crabs. River otters chew their food well, leaving very little waste. Although rain fell incessantly, the otter's dining habits were not the least bit dampened. In 2014, a study of giant otters found that the river-dwellers … Their body shape aids in helping them make sudden turns to catch fish and other prey. The main diet of the otter is made up of fish and crustaceans. River otters play the role of apex predators, so the river otter food web represents great importance to many watersheds. The river otter food chain also consists of mussels, bivalves, snails, crabs, crayfish, turtles, frogs, large beetles, worms, injured waterfowl or chicks, bird eggs, fish eggs, snakes and snake eggs. All otters have webbed feet to help propel them through the water, and most species have sharp claws. The animals sometimes … Wildlife patient admissions These otters have brown-to-gray fur, and their undersides are a lighter, silvery shade. Most otters are born during the spring and spend the first few months of their life underground in the mother’s holt. Otters are meat eaters. Stop being sensitive everyone. 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