Otters playing in the snow
January 2, 2022 10:37 AM   Subscribe

 
This is the best video ever. EVER.
posted by cooker girl at 10:46 AM on January 2, 2022 [1 favorite]


EEEEEEEE! Otters!

When people ask what animal I would be, I always say an otter, they always look like they're having so much dang fun.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 11:04 AM on January 2, 2022 [7 favorites]


Hi! Welcome to the furry fandom!
posted by hippybear at 11:07 AM on January 2, 2022 [3 favorites]


Slip slidin' away!
Slip slidin' away!
You know the nearer your destination--
Ooops! I fell off the dock again.
posted by pangolin party at 11:16 AM on January 2, 2022 [5 favorites]


The adorableness we need in these times
posted by holborne at 11:29 AM on January 2, 2022


Every time they jumped in the water I shivered, though. My house is just warming up from its overnight 60 degrees, and that's cold enough for me.
posted by tavella at 12:04 PM on January 2, 2022


A+ ottering
posted by CrystalDave at 12:28 PM on January 2, 2022


Aren't they tired out from Jug Band Christmas?
posted by The Underpants Monster at 12:28 PM on January 2, 2022 [4 favorites]


The fact that animals play always seems to me an indication they are more like us than we tend to think.
posted by Goofyy at 12:29 PM on January 2, 2022 [2 favorites]


Do unto otters as you would have otters do unto you, I always say.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 12:44 PM on January 2, 2022 [5 favorites]


Mod note: several deleted; y2karl, if you need to discuss this more with the mods, please take it to the contact form or reply to the e-mail I sent you.
posted by Eyebrows McGee (staff) at 12:58 PM on January 2, 2022


I love otters and I get to see them regularly in the wild.

I've also learned that they aren't just playful but they're also quite fearless, especially when it comes to lunch.

I spent a bit over a month house sitting a friend's boat as a live-aboard on a very long dock and I once had to call in to work late because there was an otter blocking my path because the otter was having a hearty lunch on a huge crab right next to the boat between me and the shore and they were very serious about not having their lunch interrupted.

By very serious I mean I tried to walk past or approach the otter and figured it would slip into the water and then pop out again after I passed. But, no, the otter reared up on its hind legs and bared its teeth at me and started hissing.

Turns out otters have some rather large teeth that you never really see unless they do a threat display like this. It was like having a medium sized wild cat hissing at me and was more than a little terrifying.
posted by loquacious at 1:09 PM on January 2, 2022 [17 favorites]


Turns out otters have some rather large teeth that you never really see unless they do a threat display like this.

Otters are cute from a distance but can turn into aquatic honey badgers close up.
posted by y2karl at 1:27 PM on January 2, 2022 [3 favorites]


Otters are a branch of the same family, Mustelidae, that badgers and wolverines are in. Gangs of them conduct wars in Singapore.
posted by Bee'sWing at 1:37 PM on January 2, 2022 [3 favorites]


Well, no wonder then. Thank you for pointing that out. This certainly been an otterly interesting day.
posted by y2karl at 2:09 PM on January 2, 2022 [2 favorites]


Thank you for this. I saw otters recently at the owl and otter sanctuary near me. They are pretty hefty looking things which get a speed up and I think some could knock one over with their broad tails. Also, they were pretty niffy, though I don't know if that was a failure of their created habitat rather than how they are in the wild.
posted by paduasoy at 2:31 PM on January 2, 2022 [1 favorite]


They look so huggable. I expect they disagree, but the urge is strong.
posted by jzb at 2:33 PM on January 2, 2022 [3 favorites]


Also, they were pretty niffy, though I don't know if that was a failure of their created habitat rather than how they are in the wild.

Wikipedia notes that most members of the mustelid family "have anal scent glands that produce a strong-smelling secretion the animals use for sexual signaling and marking territory."
posted by Johnny Assay at 2:50 PM on January 2, 2022 [1 favorite]


Oh yeah, I meant to mention that part, too. Otters up close are also remarkably stinky. It's a really heady mix of deep ocean stank and musk like a lost skunk at low tide.
posted by loquacious at 2:58 PM on January 2, 2022 [3 favorites]


The fact that animals play always seems to me an indication they are more like us than we tend to think.

I love this, too. So much joy in it.

Our local zoo was able to make some much-needed upgrades a few years ago, including a much-improved otter habitat that lets you see them under the water as well as out of it. They had babies this last year. I didn't get to see them in person, but was so happy for the video feed.
posted by Well I never at 3:42 PM on January 2, 2022 [1 favorite]


PSA: The US Postal Service is currently selling stamps of otters playing in snow.
posted by mbrubeck at 7:12 PM on January 2, 2022 [2 favorites]


PSA: The US Postal Service is currently selling stamps of otters playing in snow.

Who wants to be MeFi pen pals so I have a reason to buy otter stamps?
posted by hwyengr at 9:27 PM on January 2, 2022 [1 favorite]


I used the otter stamps on my holiday cards this year!
posted by The Underpants Monster at 11:58 PM on January 2, 2022 [1 favorite]


Last winter a group of at least eight river otters (I have video) pushed under the screen around the foundation of our house and moved in. Cost five figures to have them excluded, new stronger screens put in, and have all the filth cleaned out, including replacing all the insulation they shredded.

Fuck river otters.
posted by The Tensor at 12:23 PM on January 3, 2022 [3 favorites]


I saw some River Otters in a marshy area along the Gulf Coast one time. I couldn't believe it because,
A. the area was crawling with enormous, prehistoric alligators, and
B. I had no idea otters were that big.
posted by Bee'sWing at 6:01 PM on January 4, 2022


If you ever see a river otter, you can report their location to the river otter ecology project, but be warned, the drop box on the form for "How do you describe yourself?" has no "smitten af" option.

I had an acquaintance who volunteered for a wildlife rescue organization who had to have plastic surgery because her nose almost got bitten off. Don't run up and try and hug them or anything.
posted by BrotherCaine at 12:45 PM on January 5, 2022 [2 favorites]


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