River otters are the most aquatic members of the weasel family. They eat the whole gamut of aquatic prey, including fish, frogs, crayfish, salamanders and turtles – not to mention snakes, small birds, mammals, earthworms and insects. It would not be an exaggeration to say that this threesome consumed a minimum of 15 fish and crayfish within half an hour. Look for signs of their sliding in the snow, both down slopes as well as on level ground.
This entry was posted on February 11, 2013 by Mary Holland. It was filed under Animal Diets, February, Mammals, North American River Otter, Predator-Prey and was tagged with Lontra canadensis.
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Naturally Curious with Mary Holland
Please remind us of how to tell beavers from otters when they are swimming low in the water at a distance…is it the ears?
February 11, 2013 at 12:51 pm
That is a hard one! Otters often will lift their heads up out of the water to look around; beavers don’t do that as a rule. At a distance, you might detect a beaver’s ears more distinctly than an otter’s, but probably not well enough to discriminate between the two. In general, beavers are usually more intent on getting from point A to point B. Otters appear to be a bit more curious than beavers and thus are sidetracked more often !
February 11, 2013 at 1:08 pm
They are so cute! It’s always such a treat to see an otter!!
February 11, 2013 at 1:35 pm
On another note, I have been worrying that this deep snow is a devastating problem for many creatures, especially carnivores, from raptors to canids. How can they hunt in it? My dog, larger than a fox and smaller than a coyote, can barely make it through. Can owls locate prey? Is there anything for hawks to eat? Are many grouse trapped and suffocating? I am worrying.
February 11, 2013 at 2:03 pm
Deep snow is definitely a limiting factor to predators. While it hides and insulates small mammals, deep snow does make it more difficult for predators to smell/see prey. I just came in from following fox tracks, and he/she didn’t appear to be having any difficulty traveling, probably because it weighs so little. The weasel family resorts to bounding, not walking, and therefore uses up much more energy and have to eat more. The effect of deep snow really depends on the animal. Both predator and prey can benefit — for sure, ermine and snowshoe hares will live a longer life because of a white background! Grouse only have a problem if a crust forms on top of the snow, which it may well do. If under the snow, they can’t get out, and if it’s cold, they can’t dive into it. You have to tell yourself that some animal will always benefit from the misfortune of another animal!
February 11, 2013 at 2:44 pm
Do they need a pretty big stream or river to support themselves?
February 11, 2013 at 2:04 pm
Usually, yes, KEllyann, but they also often travel from small pond to small pond, finding enough fish, etc. to live on.
February 11, 2013 at 2:38 pm
Thanks – I’ll keep and eye out, then!
February 11, 2013 at 3:32 pm
We have found that otters can also slide up a hill. We discovered this a couple of weeks ago as we back tracked an otter by following its slide from where we discovered its track near a cemetery to a wetlands.
February 12, 2013 at 2:05 am