european otters
Otters are restless, playful and secretive mammals that spend most of their time along riverbanks. They have stocky legs, a long, streamlined body, and a broad muzzle with prominent, sensitive whiskers. They are perfectly adapted to a semi-aquatic life.
Their large webbed feet and long muscular tail enable them to swim comfortably at about one metre per second for up to eight hours in a night. They often dive to catch small fish or to avoid danger, but they usually only stay underwater for 10-40 seconds.
Otters can see as well under water as above it, which makes it easy for them to hunt for fish. From a distance, they can be confused with mink, particularly as they share the same habitat. Otters are much larger than mink, however, and have pale fur on their throat and chest. When an otter swims, only its head shows out of the water, whereas a mink swims with its head and back exposed.
Breeding Otters mate at any time of year and the females give birth to two or three young, usually between May & August. The newborns are only about 12 cm long but grow quickly and can swim at three months. After learning vital hunting skills, they leave the protection of their mothers at 10-12 months and can breed themselves at two years old. Cubs are usually born in a holt, which can be a hole in a bank, a den under a pile of rocks or in a tree root system.
Diet Mostly fish and eels, but also water birds such as coots, moorhens and ducks as well as frogs and rabbits.
Habitat Wide range of aquatic habitats including clean rivers, lakes, coastlines and, less commonly, marshy areas.
Predators & threats They have no natural predators apart from man. In the 1950s and 1960s, otter numbers decreased massively in Britain due to the pollution of rivers and the destruction of their habitats. Many are also killed on the roads each year.
Status & distribution Otter populations are vulnerable but numbers are now slowly increasing. Until recently, they were confined mainly to Scotland, the northwest coast, Wales, Ireland and the West Country. However, they are now spreading slowly eastwards.
Did you know? Otters mark their territory with their faeces, known as spraints, that they leave conspicuously on rocks along the water’s edge. These spraints have an unusual sweet, musky smell that some people compare to the smell of jasmine tea!
