### animal | vertebrate | mammal:

Otter
* All otters are animals
  - mammals
* All otters have claws
  - four relatively short legs
  - very flexible bodies
* Many otters always use the same kind of tool or have distinctive ways of using their tools.
* Most Otters are very social and the have a great time with each other.
* Most otters are born in a den, helpless and with their eyes closed
  - considered to be 'semi-aquatic' animals
  - die from one
* Most otters eat fish
  - food
  - meals
  - mollusks
  - salmon
  - sea urchins
  - seafood
  - have teeth
* Most otters live in habitats
  - lakes
  - rivers
  - waterways
  - make their dens close to water under tree roots, rocks piles, logs, or thickets
* Most otters play in streams
* Most otters reach maturity
  - sexual maturity
* Most otters share environments
* Most otters swim in rivers
* Some otters avoid predators.
* Some otters eat amphibians
  - clams
  - crabs
  - eels
* Some otters have blubber
  - effects
  - musk glands
* Some otters kill fish
* Some otters live in California
  - bays
  - coasts
  - oceans
  - on ground
* Some otters play in lakes
  - ponds
  - waterfalls
  - pull prey
  - swim in oceans.
  * They are a part of the animal family Mustelid. They live in nests called holts. There are many different kinds of otters. Otters live on every continent except for Australia and Antarctica
* also have beautiful brown pelts
  - difficulty finding their pre y
  - like to scat on beaver dams
* are abundant in other areas of the state, and they are decidedly nomadic.
* are active all year
  - the year around
  - actually more at home in water than on land
  - adorable creatures that live both on land and in the water
  - agile and fast in the water
* are also common predators
  - very sensitive to environmental pollution
  - amphibious members of the weasel family
* are animals that require a very clean habitat to survive
  - spend the major portion of their waking hours in the water
  - best at social skills
  - capable of closing their ears and nostrils while underwater
  - carnivores
  - common but elusive
  - completely at home in the water, while on the land they are slow and clumsy walkers
  - cousins to weasles, badgers, ferrets, and mink
  - curious about everything in their domain
  - dark brown with paler brown bellies
  - dependent on fish for food
  - fairly easily trapped and accidental trapping, primarily in beaver traps, problem
  - fast, flexible swimmers and can remain underwater five minutes or perhaps longer
  - fiercely territorial
  - fond of the lakes, too
  - frequent visitors to kelp patches where much of their primary food sources occur
  - fur
  - good swimmers
  - graceful and powerful swimmers
  - great cold weather animals
  - highly selective in their choice of habitat
* are long and slender and their coats are shiny and dark when wet
  - slim animals with four short legs that can be longer than a meter
  - long, muscular, and very streamlined animals, well adapted for their aquatic existence
  - lovable creatures and an important feature fo Missouri's ecosystem
  - mainly nocturnal but occasionally venture out during the day
  - members of the weasel family and they eat a lot of fish
  - more intelligent and fun-loving than their close land relatives
* are mostly nocturnal, and very powerful and graceful swimmers
  - but can also be active during the day
  - natural swimmers and, with parental supervision, they soon get the hang of it
  - now present in all the major Norfolk catchments and they occupy most of the main rivers
  - ocean mammals
  - part of the weasel family
* are playful and energetic
  - animals that are fond of transforming muddy or icy banks into slides
  - quite flexible and can easily touch their nose to their tail
  - rare, but introduced minks are spreading like wildfire
  - semi-aquatic mammals which feed on fish, birds and small mammals
  - shyer, but can be spotted in the kelp and rocks near the shore
  - somtimes called sea cats
  - the keystone species of a coastal ecosystem called kelp forest
* are the only marine mammal lacking a protective layer of blubber beneath their hide
  - serious swimmers in the weasel family
  - truly amphibious members of the weasel family
  - smallest of all marine mammals in the world
  - unique in many ways
* are very good parents and nurture their offspring longer than most marine mammals
  - swimmers which is good because they mostly eat fish
* are very intelligent and can learn with positive motivation training
  - curious animals
  - playful by nature
  - social creature
  - susceptible to pesticide and chemical contamination
  - vocal, with a large repertoire of calls
  - wanderers and live over several miles of a waterway
  - well known for their playful antics
  - well-known for their intelligence and their playful antics
* attempt to groom themselves after oiling and thus ingest oil, compounding their difficulty.
* can and do come into fish ponds and eat several pounds a fish in one night
  - close off their ears and nose as they dive and swim underwater
  - go over hill and dale for some distance
  - have two litters of pups a year
  - remain submerged for several minutes
  - stay underwater for more than three minutes while they hunt for their prey
  - swim very fast
* catch prey with their mouths and use their forelimbs to hold the prey.
* come to play, eat and rest in the slough's mouth.
* communicate using vocal expression such as whistles, birdlike twittering and spitting
  - with their noses, mainly by smelling marked territories
* consume their catch immediately.
* control the flow of time.
* create 'runs' - frequently used pathways with spraints deposited at various points.
* eat a lot because their body burns energy quickly
  - clams, sea urchins, abalone and crabs
  - crayfish, crabs, and fish
* eat fish and crayfish
  - other aquatic animals with occasional small mammals rounding out the diet
  - fish, and they are well equipped for swimming rapidly through water
* eat lots of fish but also mice and small invertebrates such as crayfish
  - sea urchins, which graze on algae such as kelp
  - many animals that graze on kelps and therefore protect the kelp from being overgrazed
  - muskrats and nature is balanced
* eat sea urchins, which eat kelp
  - whatever is readily available and easiest to catch
* feed on fish, snakes, turtles, frogs, crayfish and almost anything else they can catch.
* flourish in the shelter of seaweed-strewn inlets and seals bask on rocky outcrops.
* frolic in the streams and lakes while the beavers appear and disappear into their houses.
* have a special reproductive system common in the mustelidae family
  - varied carnivorous diet and prey heavily on sea urchins
  - few natural enemies, especially in water
  - good vision both above and below the water
  - large complex kidneys so they can drink salt water
  - long home ranges
  - long, slim bodies and relatively short limbs
  - sex roles, too, at least around mating and pup-reading
* have short legs and are very playful
  - limbs with the forefeet shorter that the hind feet, and broad paws
* have thick brown fur, short limbs, webbed toes, and long, compressed tails
  - fur coats and whiskers
  - to be highly adaptable too so that they can find the food sources out there
  - two to three pups in late spring
  - unusual eyeballs, adapted to see both above and below the water
  - very noticeable whiskers that are long and white
* hunt fish
  - on coasts and in fresh water during the day, even in urban rivers
* includes brains
  - breasts
  - cell membranes
  - cells
  - chest cavities
  - corpi
  - cytoplasm
  - faces
  - heads
  - nuclei
  - pedal extremities
  - piluses
  - plasma membranes
  - rib cages
  - sections
  - skulls
  - sterna
  - vacuoles
  - vertebrate feet
* inhabit are streams and lakes
  - rivers, streams, lakes, ponds, marshes and inland waterways
* like to hurry and finish jobs
  - munch on special sea treats like crabs, sea urchins and clams
  - play a lot
  - throw and bounce things, wrestle, twirl, and chase their tail
  - use dens and wetlands created by beavers
* live a high energy life style
  - all over the world, except in Australia
* live along rivers, streams, lakes, and coastal waters, or in marshes
  - the rivers
  - close to water and spend much time in it
  - everywhere except Australia
  - in dens in the ground most of the year
* live in dens, usually borrowed from beavers, muskrats or woodchucks
  - by the side of water and with an underwater entrance to the den
  - the sea
* live on all the continents except Australia and Antarctica
  - land and in water whereas most of the Mustelids live either in trees or on land
* love the cold weather and spend their winter days swimming and playing.
* maintain a hole in frozen lakes through which they can do their fishing.
* make trails along the edges of lakes, streams, and other waterways.
* mark their territories by leaving their droppings which are called spraints.
* mature sexually by two years of age.
* normally occupy a den site for only two or three consecutive nights.
* obtain most of their food from the water.
* occupy the top of the food chain and are important indicators of environmental quality.
* often use dens made by other animals
  - their paws to handle objects
* play all kinds of different games, like follow the leader for instance.
  - on the raft every morning
  - with purpose
* primarily feed on aquatic animals such as fish, crayfish, frogs, and other organisms.
* really like to play.
* require a pool of water or a dam in which to swim.
* roam freely at the edge of lakes stocked with a variety of exotic fresh-water fish.
* roll on river banks and leave a musky scent.
  - the sea with whales, harbor seals, sea lions, and Dall porpoises
* spend a lot of time grooming
  - lots of time grooming
* spend most of the day in a bed of kelp
  - their time in water
  - much time playing
* spend their time feeding and at what appears to be group play
  - playing and looking for food
* swam around the Slough with little care for passing bateaus, or kayaks.
* swim by, and bighorn sheep graze at the water s edge.
* tend to drag large fish onto the shoreline or a logjam to dine
  - live alone, except during mating and for a short time after the cubs are born
  - use local vegetation, which they shred to make shaping their nests easier
* train their young using procedures that resemble shaping.
* typically hunt by diving and chasing fish, or by digging in the bottom of ponds and streams.
* undulate more when they swim and often just poke their heads out of the water.
* use a variety of sounds to communicate among themselves
  - estuaries for food and a place to raise their young
  - rocks to break open clam shells
  - small rocks or other objects to pry prey from rocks and to hammer or pry open their food
  - stones to break open oysters
* use their vibrissae to detect the movements of prey
  - whiskers to locate crayfish, turtles, and fish along the bottom of the water
* usually consume fish tail-first, probably to disable their prey from swimming
  - follow watercourses, but cut across land if it's more convenient
  - rest by rolling within the surface kelp until their bodies are wrapped in it
+ Otter, Behaviour
  * Otters are playful and energetic. They can be seen sliding down hills and slopes, as well as chasing other otters for fun. Some kinds of otters live in groups, while others are almost always alone. Because they spent so much time in cold water, they have to groom their fur often to stop themselves from freezing
  - Description: Mustelids :: Mammals of North America
  * Otters are long and slim animals with four short legs that can be longer than a meter. They usually stay on all four legs, but they can stand up as well but they are expert swimmers and spend a lot of time in water. They have a thick fur coat that keeps them warm even in freezing water. Their fur is often brown at the top, and lighter on the bottom of the Otter. They eat meat and hunt for fish and small animals, so they have sharp claws and teeth that allow them to catch prey, then eat them. Their thick and long tail helps them steer while swimming underwater