North American River Otter

Lontra canadensis

Description:

North American River Otters or the common otter are long, slim animals with short legs around the length of a meter. They walk around on land usually on all four legs, they can also stand up on two, and they are expert swimmers. Adult Sea Otters can weigh around 11-31 lb (5.0-14 kg). North American River Otters have a thick brown fur coat that can keep them warm even in freezing water, and near the bottom of the Otter the fur gets lighter. They eat meat and hunt for fish and other small animals. They have sharp claws and teeth that help make catching their prey easier. They can stay underwater for up to 4 minutes and have tails and webbed feet so they can swim fast. Wolves and Coyotes share the same environment. Male otters have multiple female partners and use sexual reproduction to reproduce.

Habitat:

North American River Otters are animals that live near and around water. They live in rivers, some in the sea and they live in nests called holts. Otters often live in areas near land or just off the coast.

Notes:

Kingdom: Animalia, Phylum: Chordata, Class: Mammalia, Order: Carnivora, Family: Mustiladae, Subfamily: Lutrinae

Species ID Suggestions

3 Comments

Gordon Dietzman 11 years ago

I'm wondering if this isn't a North American River Otter. I wouldn't expect to find a sea otter this far inland and this far from the coastal environments that they prefer. Sea otters typically have a whitish face as well while this animal has a dark face. Standard gauge railroad tracks are 4' - 8.5" wide so that would put this animal at something less than 4' in length, which is more in line with a river otter than the larger sea otter, which is 4-5' in length. As a result, I'm thinking this is a river otter, although, frankly, I never expected to judge a species ID by the width of a railroad track. A very nice find and such an odd place to find one...grin. Nice spotting!