GENERAL INFORMATION

The River Otter is an aquatic member of a group of animals known as Mustelids. Other Western North Carolina mustelids are the skunk, weasel and mink.  Members of this family are characterized by the presence of strong-smelling anal glands which are used for communication between individuals and sometimes for defense.

DESCRIPTION

River Otters are long, muscular, and very streamlined animals, well adapted for their aquatic existence.  The brown to brownish-gray fur is short and water repellent.  The ears are small and lie flat against the side of the head.  An otter’s feet are strongly webbed and the tail is long and rudder-like.  A clear, third eyelid called a nictitating membrane, covers the otter’s eyes when swimming under-water.  This gives protection to the eye but allows the otter to see clearly.  A typical adult otter weighs between 11 and 23 pounds and can measure three to four feet in length.

HABITS AND HABITATS

River Otters are very agile swimmers and are one of the few animals that seem to spend much of their time actually playing.  Their long, supple bodies enable them to glide effortlessly through the water.  River otters can be found in a variety of freshwater habitats including streams, rivers, lakes, ponds, and marshes.  They are most active at night but may be encountered at any time.  Otters feed on fish, snakes, turtles, frogs, crayfish, and almost anything they can catch.  They are sometimes blamed for decimating game fish populations but research shows that otters feed more on slow-moving fish species such as suckers and catfish.  Otter dens are often dug into the bank of a stream or they may utilize an old beaver lodge, muskrat house, or even a hollow tree.  They give birth to two to four young in early spring.  Mating takes place soon after the young are born but because of the otter’s delayed implantation of the fertilized egg, the actual gestation period (about 63 days) begins months later.

HISTORY

River Otters have declined in many areas where they were once common.  Uncontrolled trapping, water pollution, and other forms of habitat destruction have contributed to this decline.  In North Carolina, river otters are still common in the eastern coastal plain, with much fewer found in the piedmont region, and almost none in the western mountains.  A reintroduction project to restore river otter populations in the mountains was begun in 1992 by the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission.  Otters from eastern North Carolina were trapped and later released along major rivers including the Catawba and the French Broad.  These new populations seem to be faring well and there is evidence that they have spread far from the original release sites.  Another re-introduction project of river otters has taken place in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.  Many of the streams and rivers in western North Carolina are actually much cleaner now than they were some decades ago, when the otter population first began declining here.  If successful, reintroduction projects like these could possibly restore a breeding nucleus of river otters that will eventually expand and reoccupy their former range.

Meet Our Otters

The River Otter habitat is one of the Nature Center’s most popular exhibits.  Because otters remain playful even as adults, both young and old visitors delight in watching our two otters as they swim, dive, and play in her natural-looking enclosure.  Our female otter, Olive,  was born on the coast of North Carolina.  She was hand-raised after being orphaned and is human-imprinted as a result.  Olive cannot be released into the wild because she lacks survival skills and does not fear people.  Our male otter arrived at the Nature Center in Spring of 2010. The Nature Center’s otters are fed a commercially prepared zoo diet for carnivores as well as fish.  This is supplemented with beef heart once a week.  If you like our otters and find them particularly fascinating, you can adopt them through the Friends of the Nature Center!

INFORMATION LINKS

Otternet

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©2002 WNC Nature Center