RIVER OTTERS

Color: Dark brown or black

Size: Up to 55 inches with a 14 inch tail

Weight: 10 to 30 pounds

Head: Heavy and bullet shaped

Ears and Snout: Small

Eyes: Small and amber colored

Neck: Thick

Legs: Short and stubby

Tail: Long and flat

Otters live in water, in dens or nests. In winter, when an otter's den or nest freezes over, the otter will look for a new river to live in. Otters like to splash, wrestle, and play in the shallow parts of the river. Otters hunt in water and on land, but they spend most of the rest of their time in the water. Otters are fierce hunters. Otters are nocturnal animals, so they always hunt at night. Females and males mate in the summer and work hard to teach their babies. Otters can stay under water for up to six minutes by closing their nostrils.

From the water, otters eat squid, mussels, sea worms, octopi, shellfish, frogs, turtles, and small fish. From land, they eat small birds, insects, eggs, snails, snakes, rabbits, muskrats, and other small mammals.