Xenophobia at its best!
July 4, 2002 3:48 PM Subscribe
Xenophobia at its best! " The British and the North Americans are often said to be divided by a common language. Now it seems this linguistic split may apply to the natural world too. [¶]
A pair of Canadian otters brought to Britain a year ago are under 24-hour guard at the National Sea-life Sanctuary, near Oban in Scotland, because of fears they will be attacked by indigenous cousins unable to understand their "foreign accents". "
YES!!11 GO CANADIAN OTTERS!!!
YES!!11 GO CANADIAN OTTERS!!!
What nefarious plans do they have for our otters? Are they trying to build some lithe, cunning, super otter?
posted by Salmonberry at 4:39 PM on July 4, 2002
posted by Salmonberry at 4:39 PM on July 4, 2002
I don't understand. The Canadian otters grow to twice the size of the local otters. Let them drop the gloves and fight it out. Then the Scotters won't be sniffing around in their wee otter skirts looking for a fight anymore. Oh, wait. Was that too Canadian of me?
posted by srboisvert at 8:52 PM on July 4, 2002
posted by srboisvert at 8:52 PM on July 4, 2002
srboisvert, aye, but the Scottish otters are cannier than the Canadian and they probably paint their wee whiskery faces blue to do battle.
posted by Tarrama at 2:38 AM on July 5, 2002
posted by Tarrama at 2:38 AM on July 5, 2002
It doesn't matter how big a scotsman or scotsotter is. Chance are he's a 'wee hard doorty bastard' and will quite easily beat the shite outta ya.
posted by Frasermoo at 3:20 AM on July 5, 2002
posted by Frasermoo at 3:20 AM on July 5, 2002
"My God. They're animals.
Dialects (or "accents") are fairly common in the animal kingdom. Orcas have them, so do chimpanzees (about halfway down the page). It seems logical that animals which communicate verbally (as otters do) will have regional variances in the sounds they use and the way they use them. So it's not unreasonable for otters from Canada to communicate differently than Scotters.
posted by biscotti at 7:49 AM on July 5, 2002
Dialects (or "accents") are fairly common in the animal kingdom. Orcas have them, so do chimpanzees (about halfway down the page). It seems logical that animals which communicate verbally (as otters do) will have regional variances in the sounds they use and the way they use them. So it's not unreasonable for otters from Canada to communicate differently than Scotters.
posted by biscotti at 7:49 AM on July 5, 2002
I thought I detected a "southern twang" from the local otters here in NC.
posted by dangerman at 9:03 AM on July 5, 2002
posted by dangerman at 9:03 AM on July 5, 2002
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posted by MiguelCardoso at 4:08 PM on July 4, 2002