Talk:Otter

message: I will remove the reference to Pantolestidae. Pantolestidae are not even remotely related to otters, other than that they are mammals. Sure they are semiaquatic but so are desmans, some extinct badgers, a number of extinct carnivores etc.   — Preceding unsigned comment added by Laplandgerard (talk • contribs) 13:12, 28 December 2011 (UTC)
thread_title: Pantolestidae

message: Last I checked independent research, like armchair 'Googling', was not allowed on Wiki. What's the difference between googling something and presenting your own original research? Well, in the case of original research you might actually follow some kind of recognized research technique. But we don't even allow that. Why this 'Google' research? Or is there independent research accepted by the Wikipedia community that Google is in fact an authoratative source on the English language?--24.69.71.11 20:18, 24 September 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: A little late, but: You're right, a Google search is not really a reference. I found a reference in the magazine Natural History, though, and have added that instead of all the junk about the OED and Google. —Seqsea (talk) 03:59, 8 December 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: Romp

message: Added to mane page:
Males kidnap pups from mothers to use as extortion for food.  Rough sex that often kills female.  Pups steal food from mother.  Do not react well with crude oil.  Beneficial for kelp beds and natural fish nurseries.  Bad for sea urchins and shellfishermen.  Tie themselves up in kelp to keep from floating away while sleeping.  They are the newly discovered favorite snack of orca.
This is a mix of questionable assertions (kidnapping pups, tying themselves up in kelp) and weird phrasing ("do not react well with crude oil"). Someone needs to verify (or refute) the odder bits, and rephrase the rest. I'll try to get to it soon, but can't promise anything. Vicki Rosenzweig
Vicki, others, I added a bit here about size, weight, agricultural damage.  I think the kelp bed/shellfish issues should be included.  Don't know about the "rough sex", etc.  I do wonder at the implication that the native Americans did *not* use otter fur.  Ortolan88
Why was the bit about south park removed? L6
:: so funny... what about, how cute otter are though? i think that should be documented. plus, search on youtube and you can see evidence of otter holding hands like little friends, and also a video of an otter crying because he lost his favorite rock. SOOOO cute. 169.226.100.27 21:01, 15 November 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: Added

message: Many more otters were trapped after European contact, for export.
On weight, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, which manages sea otters in Alaska, has very different size numbers than you found: http://www.state.ak.us/local/akpages/FISH.GAME/notebook/marine/seaotter.htm says adult males are generally 70-90 pounds, some up to 100, and adult females generally 40-60 pounds. What's the source for your numbers? (The Alaska page is a few years old, but this doesn't seem like something that would change rapidly).
I seem to have some free time, so will try to find more info about otters generally, including their mating. Vicki Rosenzweig
: Sos un cara de sieso  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2806:1016:6:27F7:E04D:57F:DE17:1DDD (talk) 21:13, 27 January 2019 (UTC)
thread_title: Trapping

message: "as far south as Japan" -- anybody know which part of Japan? Japan is a very long country... it stretches far north enough that it has some standing territorial disputes with Russia, and clusters of islands in Okinawa to the south are on the same latitude as Taipei. -- Mote 03:31, 2 Jan 2005 (UTC)
thread_title: Location

message: Help someone revert the latest vandal! He's added spurious crap to the infos! -68.39.174.205 11:12, 2 Jan 2005 (UTC)
thread_title: Vandal

message: Does the North American river otter live in the Great Lakes? If so, then this animal must be the apex predator of a large area of water.
--66.231.41.57 23:26, 28 March 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: Apex Predator

message: Can otters climb?61.230.88.35 11:02, 14 June 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: Climbing

message: :I'm not sure what this image shows, but it was oddly placed. According to the text, otters cool their bodies by leaving a trail of warm bubbles. -- Ec5618 19:18, 16 August 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: Moved from article: Thermographic image of an otter

message: Is this supposed to contain a full list of otters? I am missing Lontra provocax (Southern River Otter, huillin) and Lontra felina (Sea cat, chungungo)
--Lupo Manaro 15:38, 19 March 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  More species 

message: I wanted to make a wikiproject about ferrets and weasels but it became to small a range so i have made a bigger wikiprojects including all animals in the Musteloidea super family which include both ferrets and weasels and much similar animals. Support would be appreceated.
This new wikiproject includes
you can find it here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:WikiProject_Council/Proposals#Weasels
i also made a little template for the project,
	This article is within the scope of the Weasel WikiProject, a collaborative effort to improve Wikipedia's coverage of articles relating to Ferrets, Weasels, and other Weasel like friends. If you would like to participate, you can visit the project page, where you can join the project and see a list of open tasks.
I hope you like it.
This wikiproject is for the superfamily of Musteloidea which currently and surprisingly does not have an article yet. This superfamily includes ferrets and weasels and all of our other furry little weasel like friends. Please put your name on it so this article could have it's very own wikiproject outside of wikiproject animals.
Teh Ferret 19:56, 26 April 2007 (UTC)
replies: text:  I don't like it -- I think the picture should be of two otter holding hands... a still from the youtube video maybe. Youtube search otter holding hands, and you'll see -- your heart will melt. 169.226.100.27 21:04, 15 November 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  New Wikiproject 

message: Back in October I put queries on four Lutra species: L bravardi, L libyca, L palaeindica and L simplicidens, with a note saying "are these species or subspecies of others?".  My query was not whether these taxa exist, but whether they are full species.  The refs just posted by User:Narayanese support the existence of the taxa – but not of their rank, and so don't answer the query (I've replaced it for the moment).  What caught my attention is that two of the names imply origins within the range of Lutra lutra, suggesting they might properly be, for example, Lutra lutra libyca.  The refs show that someone at some time has considered them full species, but not what the scientific consensus now is.
The page with those refs raise another doubt.  It lists "Lutra maculicollis" – but that is given on this page as Hydrictis maculicollis.  So what about the extinct ones – are they properly Lutra or perhaps something else?  It would also be helpful to know whether they are just recently extinct – or are they fossil taxa (as perhaps suggested by "paleaoindica")?  --Richard New Forest (talk) 18:54, 16 February 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: Lutra libyca is a basal Lutrinae from the Pliocene rather than a real member of Lutra, don't know about the rest, it does seem like people threw any leftover species into Lutra. Narayanese (talk) 22:47, 16 February 2008 (UTC)
thread_title: Extinct ''Lutra'' taxa

message: I popped by here on my way to the disambiguation page, but I've had a fondness for otters since reading Ring of Bright Water in late childhood, can't remember the author; it was made into a film, and is about the adoption of an Iraqi marsh otter, presumably the Eurasian species?  Anyway, I gather it would go in the cultural refs section, I just don't know the author's name; it was at one time very famous...also teaching me to be fond of otters were teh ones in the Stanley Park zoo, which I watched for years brfore they became youtube  stars..... (I'd include that link, to, but youtube links are no-nos, right?).Skookum1 (talk) 19:55, 24 April 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: That would be Gavin Maxwell. I loved Ring of Bright Water as well growing up. (As for the YouTube thing, just search for 'otters holding hands' and you'll find'em.) Tony Fox (arf!) 20:11, 24 April 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: Maxwell's Ring of Bright Water otter was a smooth-coated otter (Lutrogale perspicillata), though as I recall the local Eurasian otters featured in later books.  --Richard New Forest (talk) 15:31, 25 April 2008 (UTC)
thread_title: ''Ring of Bright Water''

message: Anyone knows what species this is? Please reply at my commons page. --165.21.155.11 (talk) 03:28, 30 April 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: Asian small-clawed otter, says an ad for the park. Narayanese (talk) 09:12, 30 April 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  Image ID request 

message: I added a Otters in popular culture to try to help remove the "Cultural References" from this article. Azoreg (talk) 20:19, 22 January 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  [[Otters in popular culture]] 

message: Regarding the proposed merge of the pop culture article back into the main article, I oppose such a merge. Let the pop culture article stand on its own; if it is unacceptable then let it be AfD'd. If it fails an AfD, then the material is unworthy to even be merged into this article. If the AfD results in a merge, we can deal with it then. Rgrds. --Tombstone (talk) 16:28, 23 January 2009 (UTC)
replies: text: I oppose such a merge too... but since I was the one who created the Otters in popular culture article, my vote may not count. Azoreg (talk) 17:34, 23 January 2009 (UTC)
thread_title: Merge

message: Hello, there is a new reference added to this page and a assertion that male otters are called "meowters". After some searching and looking through dictionaries, I believe this is a made up word with the only citation being a dubious site claiming the same thing. I would like to have this word removed from the article.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 173.164.221.38 (talk) 15:01, 2 December 2010 (UTC)
replies: text: I have changed the entry as there are only Tumblr memes to support the new taxonomical suggestion of Meowter. Please stop putting meowter graffiti up on this page.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 173.164.221.38 (talk) 14:40, 4 December 2010 (UTC)
replies: text:  The reference you removed from the article () is not Tumblr or "graffiti"; so (1) you removed sourced content and (2) replaced it with your POV.  Removing that information from the article probably improved it, but not finding a better reference made it less trustworthy. --Fama Clamosa (talk) 16:19, 4 December 2010 (UTC)
replies: text: The ref is of poor quality: it does not give its own source, and is generally far from authoritative in tone.  Other sources appear to be derivatives.  We need a reliable source for this word, which looks to me too as if it's been made up quite recently.  I think mention of it should be removed until a better source can be found.  (And isn't the usual term for a male a "dog otter" anyway?)   Richard New Forest (talk) 19:54, 4 December 2010 (UTC)
replies: text: I have removed the extraordinarily dubious claim that a male otter is called a "meowter," as well as the somewhat more plausible but nonetheless inadequately sourced claim that male otters are also called "boars" and females "sows" or "queens." I agree with Richard New Forest: () may not be a Tumblr, but it still isn't a citation worthy of reference. The same goes for http://www.bioparksociety.org/pdfs/CC_Tearsheet_otter.pdf. I have added a reference to a more reliable source (Kruuk's _Otters: Ecology, Behaviour and Conservation_), which states simply that female otters are "bitches" and males are "dogs." Hopefully, nobody will insert any additional otter-related terminology without providing reliable verification.Echizenkurage (talk) 22:11, 8 December 2013 (UTC)
thread_title: Meowter

message: sometimes vandals can be funny. Just deleted this:
Otters are curious creatures and in zoos, often build ladders out of thier enclosures at night to explore the zoo.  They then climb back into the enclosure and hide the remnants of the ladder.  They know they will be fed and looked after in the enclosure but they have an undying curiosity about the rest of the zoo. --Raindeer (talk) 15:56, 6 January 2012 (UTC)
replies: text: omg.  that's TOO funny.Colbey84 (talk) 23:52, 20 October 2015 (UTC)
thread_title:  Otters building ladders in zoo's 

message: A sea otter was recently born at the Seattle Aquarium. They moved the father to a different facility so that the mother could bond with her pup. Apparently mother sea otters isolate themselves when giving birth. Is this common to all otters? Why do they do this and when do they return home? Rotsujin (talk) 21:10, 15 January 2012 (UTC)
thread_title:  Bonding in Newborns 

message: BTW - The otter is also the mascot of California State University Monterey Bay (CSUMB)...  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.26.180.173 (talk) 07:37, 21 April 2012 (UTC)
thread_title:  Untitled 

message: International Otter Survival Fund
Internationalotter (talk) 09:17, 22 December 2014 (UTC)
replies: text: Not done: as you have just posted a URL, not requested a change.From your username it appears you may have a conflict of interest and may be trying to promote your organization.If you want to suggest a change, please request this in the form "Please replace XXX with YYY" or "Please add ZZZ between PPP and QQQ".Please also cite reliable sources to back up your request, without which no information should be added to, or changed in, any article. - Arjayay (talk) 09:25, 22 December 2014 (UTC)
thread_title:  Semi-protected edit request on 22 December 2014 

message: The terminology and lifecycle sections contain information that is specific to the European river otter, and is not general to all otters. In particular the comment 'more common in Scotland' implies that the author is speaking narrowly of the otters in the United Kingdom. I don't have the expertise to remove the facts that are species specific, but perhaps someone with that knowledge could clean these sections up?  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.89.214.103 (talk) 16:58, 7 March 2016 (UTC)
thread_title:  Terminology/Lifecycle 

message: Please change "Male otters are called dogs or boars, females are called bitches or sows, and their offspring are called pups" to "Male otters are called dogs, females are called bitches, and their offspring are called pups (US) or cubs (UK)." Shirleypooface (talk) 16:29, 27 June 2022 (UTC)
replies: text: That sounds reasonable, but we will need a source supporting the change. I can find one for the "cub" part, but not the rest - if you can provide one that should be fine. Anaxial (talk) 17:41, 27 June 2022 (UTC)
replies: text:  Please provide a reliable source for this information. For now, I have closed this request. Please make sure to re-open it when giving a source. Thanks. Aidan9382 (talk) 20:08, 27 June 2022 (UTC)
thread_title:  Semi-protected edit request on 27 June 2022 

message: Somebody please fix this sentence to create a parallel construction: "Bitch otters reach sexual maturity at approximately two years of age and males at approximately three years."
If we're going to say "males" at the midpoint, we can say "Female otters" at the beginning. Male otters are also referred to as dogs, so changing "males" to "dogs" would be another option.
Right now this article reads like an excuse to write the word "bitches" as often as possible, and that's distracting rather than illuminating. 47.222.125.80 (talk) 08:33, 9 December 2022 (UTC)
thread_title:  Edit request 

message: 2603:9001:700:1A2:D5A6:5FCC:6979:578F (talk) 21:31, 8 January 2024 (UTC)
replies: text: Not done: it's not clear what changes you want to be made. Please mention the specific changes in a "change X to Y" format and provide a reliable source if appropriate. RudolfRed (talk) 21:38, 8 January 2024 (UTC)
thread_title:  Semi-protected edit request on 8 January 2024 (2) 

message: They eat up to 5% or 25% of 
food each day 98.28.12.226 (talk) 18:17, 19 February 2024 (UTC)
thread_title:  Otter Food