Wild River Otters Playing
While otters are reputed to be playful, I’ve had the pleasure of observing wild river otters playing only twice. The first was in person at Yellowstone National Park in late September, as a pair of otters wrestled while another relaxed nearby, as seen in the video below. I assumed the two playmates were siblings and the relaxing animal their mother but that’s not necessarily true. Addult otters also wrestle, and this could have been a group of males rather than a female with young. In any case, wrestling is the most common type of river otter play described in the literature (that I could find).
My second observation was via trail camera in Massachusetts and involved an otter at a latrine site playing with a stick, while its two companions made proper scent mounds. The playful one was a bit smaller than the others and was probably a juvenile. The video below shows the same clip three times: first at normal speed, then at normal speed but zoomed in, and finally in slow motion and zoomed in. The animal on the far right plays with a stick for the duration of the latrine visit while the one closest to the camera scrapes up a scent mound before wagging its tail, stamping its hind feet and discharging scat or urine.
The second video is especially interesting because I’ve been unable to find reports of wild Lontra canadensis playing with objects. However, it seems to be common in captive otters, and there are some online videos of them playing with colorful toys in zoos. Perhaps it is less common in wild otters, or maybe we fail to notice it because wild otters use natural, drab objects like sticks. In all honesty, I watched the video clip a few times before realizing one individual was playing. The sticks are hard to see and the playful animal’s movements are similar to those of the other two otters making scent mounds. It made me wonder if I’d “seen” play at latrine sites before without realizing it.
Have you seen wild river otters playing? I’d love to know about it, so please feel free describe your experience in the comment section.
Sources
Beckel, A. “Wrestling Play in Adult River Otters, Lutra canadensis.” Journal of Mammalogy. 72 (1991): 386-390.
I have seen them playing twice, once in a backwater to Mobile Bay and another time during the winter not far from Canandaigua Lake, New York. The New York experience was in new snow, about a foot deep, and three otters were building up speed then sliding. They played in a level area so gravity couldn’t help, so they accelerated their bodies then slid.
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I’m glad that I saw this and then examined the tracks because the record in the snow would have been hard to attribute to anything had I not seen it laid down.
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The Alabama experience wasn’t as sustained. initially I just heard a racket that I could not identify as I paddled my kayak along a narrow waterway. As I rounded a bend I spotted the slide but didn’t comprehend what it was until five otters stuck their upper bodies well up in the water just a few feet in front of my boat and just looked at me. It was like the fingers of my hand coming out of the water. They kind of hovered there for a moment and then disappeared.
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I’ve seen sea otters play too, in Monterey Bay, California, but that is off topic. This weekend I may see sea otters again as I am on an all day boat tour in Khutzeymateen Provincial Park near Prince Rupert, British Columbia. Also off topic but I’m so excited that I can’t help sharing (or bragging).
Thanks for sharing, Lloyd! I have heard many stories of them sliding in snow for fun (much like kids – climbing up the same hill over and over, just to slide down) but have never seen it.
Your stories reminded me of another instance of play I witnessed. Don’t know how I forgot about this when I wrote the post yesterday. Two otters – one would wait on the shore while the other would go in the water for awhile, then suddenly pop out and jump on the one on the shore and wrestle briefly. I saw several bouts of this, and couldn’t tell if they were taking turns or if it was the same one going into the water each time. Fascinating, in either case.