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Saturday 26 November 2016

Otter

The ancient monotheistic religion Zoroastrianism had strict rules forbidding the killing of otters. They believed that the creatures helped keep water purified by eating already dead animals that might contaminate the water source if they were allowed to rot.

Male Otters are called boars, females are sows, and the offspring are pups.


A group of otters is called a romp, because they play together and are energetic.

Otters live on every continent except for Australia and Antarctica.

Giant 6ft otters still exist in three remote river systems of South America. They hunt in packs and can even take on crocodiles.

They have very soft, insulated underfur, which is protected by an outer layer of long guard hair. The fur is the thickest of any mammal in the animal kingdom at up to one million hairs per square inch.

Otters are active hunters, chasing prey in the water or searching the beds of rivers, lakes or the seas. However, with the exception is the Sea Otter, they spend the majority of their time on land to avoid their fur becoming waterlogged.

An Otter can remain under water for up to 4 minutes. They can also dive up to 300 feet in search of food.


Baby otters can't swim at first, but their buoyancy makes it possible for the mother to wrap the pup in (sea) weeds to prevent it from drifting away when she needs to hunt. It can take baby otters months to learn how to swim depending on their species.

Otters will often use rocks to help crack open shelled animals, such as clams, which they like to eat for dinner.

Otters have a pouch in their fur to store their favorite rock.

They communicate with whistles, growls, chuckles and screams, as well as chirps, squeals, and some kinds of otters might even purr. Otters also leave their scent on plants to mark their territory.

Otters live 8 to 9 years in the wilderness, and as many as 21 years in captivity.


For centuries, Bangladesh fisherman have been training otters to act as herders and chase large schools of fish into the nets.

Sources Mentalfloss.com, Otter-world.com

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