North american river otter

Language English

Onglets

Description

Distinguishing features

A river otter has thick, glossy dark brown fur, lighter on the belly. Its toes are webbed. It has a long, tapered tail that is broader at the base. The female is generally smaller than the male.

Reproduction

The young are generally born between March and April, but also sometimes as early as January or as late as May. Since embryo implantation is delayed (not until two months before birth), gestation may last up to 12 and a half months.

The female bears one to five young, or kits, per litter. The male leaves the female after the young are born and comes back to raise them once they are about six months old. Males and females reach sexual maturity at two years.

The young learn to swim between the tenth and twelfth weeks.

Diet

North american river otter eats mostly underwater, mainly by grazing in the muddy bottom where it find its prey with the help of their long whiskers.

It eats mainly fish (sunfish, trout, catfish, perch, smolt, stickleback, etc.), but also molluscs, insects (dragonfly nymphs, diving beetles), crayfish, frogs and even turtles. Occasionally, it may eat mammals (muskrats, voles, shrews and young beavers) or ducks. Adult river otters can consume up to 1.5 kg of food a day.

Predators

North american river otters are hunted mainly by humans, for their fur, although they are sometimes attacked by wolves and coyotes. Young otters may fall prey to Canadian lynx, bobcats and great horned owls.

Habitat

North american river otters are unique to North America, and live on the shores of lakes, rivers, marshes and ocean bays. They can even be found in the tundra, north of the tree line.

They make burrows lined with grasses, leaves and twigs, in a hollow log, a stump or an abandoned beaver lodge. Sometimes otters make do with a large open-air nest of grass in a thicket in the midst of a marsh or on a riverbank.

When they live in a burrow, they make two entrances, one underwater and the other above, so that they can escape any predators.

Ecology, behaviour

North american river otters are active year-round, hunting mostly at night. They can remain underwater for up to four minutes; their nostrils and ears close up to keep water out, and their heartbeat slows.

They are very playful animals, and love to slide down slopes on their stomachs. An otter family's territory ranges from 5 to 16 km². They have tufts of fur between their toes to keep them warm and for traction, as well as rough pads under their feet. In the water, they can stick their heads out and stretch their necks a long way to enable them to look around.

French name

Loutre de rivière

Scientific name

Lontra canadensis

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Mammalia

Order

Carnivora

Family

Mustelidae

Size

Length: 90 to 130 cm

Weight

4 to 14 kg

Life span

In the wild: 8 to 9 years; in captivity: 16 to 21 years.

Status

Fairly common species

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