Coal Creek Wildlife-River Otter

River Otters by Rachel, age 8

If you like cute animals you will like river otters. They are very cute. It's neat how they swim in a snake like way. They are also very cool to learn about.

If you live most of North America, southern U.S.A. or North Canada look by a river you might see something swimming in a snake like way . It could be a river otter. It's chocolate brown and it weighs as much as a ten year old. It eats fish, frogs, crayfish, and other aquatic animals. It has a waterproof body with waterproof nose and ears too. They also have built in nose plugs! Sometimes they have two babies. It lives in a family with the mink, ermine, badger, wolverine, skunk and, marten. When they play folow-the-leader one river otter would dive under water then when it is the next river otters turn it would go to shore.

I found my facts from Nature's Children, RIVER OTTERS by Laima Dingwall.

River Otter by Adam, age 9

If you see a cute, grayish brown figure going 7 miles per hour, it might be a river otter. They make a snorting-like caw noise to frighten predators such as the lynx and other big cats. They live in abandoned beaver dams and muskrat holes. They mainly eat muskrats, shrews, fish, frogs, tadpoles, turtles, insects, ducks, crayfish, and young beavers. River otters are playful critters. It's a rare sight to see a river otter balance a leaf on it's nose and even rarer to see one juggle. In mating season, the male leaves musk to mark its territory. The male weighs 18 lbs and is 3 feet long and the female is slighty smaller.

I got my infomation from a book called RIVER OTTERS by Laima Dingwall.

River Otter by Rachel H., age 9

If you see a shape moving through the water gracefully, it might be a river otter. Can you see an oily skin? If so, it is an otter. The river otter is a rare animal.

River otters came from Oregon and Newfoundland but in the early 1900s otters disappeared from Colorado. In1976 river otters were reintroduced on the South Platte river. The river otter is found in streams and rivers in Rocky Moutain National Park, Cache la Poudre River and the upper reaches of the Colorado River. In the past, otters lived all over the state but now they are quite rare.

Otters are part of the weasel family.The otter's scientific name is lutra canadensis. Otters can swim very fast.They have a long and rounded tail.The color is brown. River otters weigh 10 to 30 pounds.They are 3 to 4 feet long.

Otters are active all year. Otters have short legs and are very playful.They have special places to fish called landings. Otters' whiskers help it to feel on the bottom of the river floor. Otters eat fish and crayfish.They snag them with sharp canine teeth.Thank you for reading my article about the otter. Bye!

I got my information from COLORADO WILDLIFE by Jeff Rennicke.

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