Bob Arnebeck's Web Page on Otters
Since 1997 I have been hiking with a camcorder on an island in the St. Lawrence River just east of Lake Ontario. The otters I see have shown me how they raise their young and how they thrive in the river and its islands' swamps. I generally watch one family, a mother, her pups, and often a female helper, beginning in June and with luck through the winter. Sometimes two families will join together, like the six otters below.
I see single males and groups of males occasionally.
Despite their popularity, otters are poorly understood. However, their numbers are increasing and more people are seeing them. I invite you to join me in learning more about them. A first step is learning how to identify otters. Where I live minks are most commonly mistaken for otters.
mink
Swimming muskrats can be mistaken for otters too.
muskrat
Beavers have a propensity to slap their big unotterly tail when humans are nearby, but when they don't, they can be mistaken for otters.
beaver
At the bottom of this page I will provide links to my web pages on beavers, muskrats and minks where you can find more information and video clips of those animals. And most like the otter in size and shape is the fisher. However, despite its name, it rarely swims in the water.
fisher
For more pointers on identifying otters, go to my web page:
I am trying to use my many video clips of otters to give an detailed picture of their lives, but it is slow work, made slower by the otters being, at times, too enjoyable to be explained.
I do have two web pages exploring the otters' world and how they behave in that world.
And a few more links:
Here's a link to what I call the Otter Video Book. Another attempt to explain otters primarily based on videos I've taken Otter Video Book
And click otter commonplace book to read what others like Audubon and Thoreau have written about otters.
And I wish I didn't have to write about New York State's policies on otter trapping, which seems designed to limit our enjoyment of otters.
So, dive in
and take a bite!
and tell me what you think
Is that you, Bob Arnebeck?
See my other web sites about beavers, muskrats, minks, Blanding's turtles, and porcupines. Click the thumbnail:
