Comments on: They Otter Just Give Up

They Otter Just Give Up

Gator — Wed, 16 Nov 2005 08:39:58 -0800

We all know that otters are terminally cute (warning: streaming WMV), but the Federal Government is only just now figuring out that they're also smarter than humans give 'em credit for. And they have no respect for the poor widdle shellfish industry. No respect at all. Awww.

By: Gator

Gator — Wed, 16 Nov 2005 08:40:07 -0800

Four and a half years previously.

By: Pretty_Generic

Pretty_Generic — Wed, 16 Nov 2005 08:45:17 -0800

happy otter and the prisoner of bashtheclam

By: poppo

poppo — Wed, 16 Nov 2005 08:49:51 -0800

PG that might even be funnier than the "it's dark in the watergate" one i can't stop laughing

By: batou_

batou_ — Wed, 16 Nov 2005 08:55:41 -0800

I think we have no option but to erradicate the entire species. It's for the good of humankind. "It comes down to a philosophy of, what do you believe in? Do you believe in animals or do you believe in human beings?" said Robert S. Juntz Jr., president of the Sea Urchin Processors Association and owner of a processing plant in Mendocino County that employs about 45 people.

By: GuyZero

GuyZero — Wed, 16 Nov 2005 08:55:48 -0800

From the ucdavis link: Note: The sea urchin industry has promised funding assistance to further research and management efforts. There's a sea urchin industry? Huh. I guess people will eat anything.

By: dobbs

dobbs — Wed, 16 Nov 2005 08:57:11 -0800

I think it's safe to assume that all animals are smarter than humans give them credit for.

By: CynicalKnight

CynicalKnight — Wed, 16 Nov 2005 09:10:48 -0800

"Do you believe in animals or do you believe in human beings?" - Robert S. Juntz Jr. Leading the charge for full seperation of animal and human. Oh Toto, it's not just Kansas anymore.

By: howling fantods

howling fantods — Wed, 16 Nov 2005 09:21:20 -0800

Hairy Otter souvenirs were quite popular last time I was in Monterey.

By: candyland

candyland — Wed, 16 Nov 2005 09:27:47 -0800

"I wanna be an otter..." (Real Media file - from Too Much Joy's album Green Eggs and Crack)

By: PurplePorpoise

PurplePorpoise — Wed, 16 Nov 2005 09:29:19 -0800

(Fresh) Sea urchin are teh yummy. I don't blame otters for liking them. Then again, if otter eat yummy food, does that make otters yummy?

By: Pretty_Generic

Pretty_Generic — Wed, 16 Nov 2005 09:31:59 -0800

No, it make otter yummy.

By: dios

dios — Wed, 16 Nov 2005 09:42:36 -0800

There's a sea urchin industry? Huh. I guess people will eat anything. posted by GuyZero at 10:55 AM CST on November 16 Obviously you've never watched Iron Chef. Those fuckers put sea urchin roe in everything.

By: dios

dios — Wed, 16 Nov 2005 09:46:52 -0800

Dennis Leary: There's the problem, right? We have these little cute pangs in our bellies because we're human beings. That's how we decide which animals to save. It's all a matter of how cute they are. "Oh, look at the baby seals with the big brown eyes and the furry little fur. Don't do anything to them. Leave them alone." "But the cows are big and dumb and stupid. Fuck them. Let's eat them all. C'mon. Let's make jackets out of what's left over. C'mon." We might as well just have animal auditions and line them up one by one and judge them individually. "What are you?" "I'm an otter." "And what do you do?" "I swim around on my back and do cute little human things with my hands." "You're free to go." "And what are you?" "I'm a cow." "Get in the fuckin' truck, okay, pal?" "But I'm an animal." "You're a baseball glove." "I'm an animal." "You're a hat. Get on that truck. You cow. What do you think we called you a 'cow' for?"

By: nowonmai

nowonmai — Wed, 16 Nov 2005 10:01:50 -0800

Yeah, otters are so smart.

By: jrossi4r

jrossi4r — Wed, 16 Nov 2005 10:09:22 -0800

Otters are assholes. They eat beaver babies. Male otters will mate with unwilling females by biting their nose so they can't get away, sometimes ripping the nose off. And yet, I just can't stay mad at that cute little face!

By: grabbingsand

grabbingsand — Wed, 16 Nov 2005 10:10:16 -0800

MetaFilter: You're a hat.

By: Gator

Gator — Wed, 16 Nov 2005 10:26:38 -0800

At the risk of proving Denis Leary right, that OtterCam (the "cute" link with the streaming video) at the Monterey Bay Aquarium is seriously adorable. Just in the last couple of hours, I've tabbed over there and seen the otters being fed, otters wrestling, otters curling up to snooze in the little wading pool, otters frolicking in the spray while the keepers hose down their living space, and otters playing tug-of-war with the artificial kelp the keepers provide. Cuteness overload.

By: batou_

batou_ — Wed, 16 Nov 2005 10:27:00 -0800

Who can argue against the wisdom of Dennis Leary?

By: Wolfdog

Wolfdog — Wed, 16 Nov 2005 10:34:46 -0800

nowonmai's pic is awesome, not least because it reminds me of a certain picture of #1.

By: PurplePorpoise

PurplePorpoise — Wed, 16 Nov 2005 10:54:32 -0800

Is that an obese otter in nowonmai's pic?

By: Danf

Danf — Wed, 16 Nov 2005 10:58:30 -0800

Otters are assholes. They eat beaver babies. Those would be river otters. Where I live, river otters are recolonizing some small streams and eating baby nutria, which were introduced half a century ago and are considered a pest. A coworker was telling me yesterday about a river otter he saw grappling with a steelhead bigger than the otter, and finally, after several tries, subduing it and towing it away. Humans seem to occupy the same niche on the food chain as sea otters. I am not sure what to do about that. If I were a fisherperson, I would be very conflicted.

By: Josh Zhixel

Josh Zhixel — Wed, 16 Nov 2005 11:04:09 -0800

By: Biblio

Biblio — Wed, 16 Nov 2005 11:31:45 -0800

Nowonmai, is that one of the otters at the Ecotarium? That enlclosure looks familiar. Then again, it's a freakin' otter enclosure. How different could they be???

By: AspectRatio

AspectRatio — Wed, 16 Nov 2005 12:05:52 -0800

Nowonmai... thanks for my new desktop.

By: Catch

Catch — Wed, 16 Nov 2005 12:42:20 -0800

"On the other hand, I haven't been a bad sort in my way, so I think I may count on being a nice animal, something elegant and lively, with a love of fun. An otter, perhaps."

By: keijo

keijo — Wed, 16 Nov 2005 13:55:09 -0800

I started laughing when one of the links had an "Otter Shop" with the tagline: "Adopt an Otter (Goods sent within 24 hours)".

By: nowonmai

nowonmai — Thu, 17 Nov 2005 19:56:50 -0800

I know nothing about origins of the picture I posted; it was linked to in the b3ta.com newsletter as the final word in an ongoing argument about whether sloths or otters were the better animal. Sorry!