Otters of the Old World

In the last post (which you can check out by clicking HERE), we learned all about the otters of the Americas   In this post, we are going to look at the otters from the rest of the world!  First though, we aren't going to be looking at the sea otter again, as we looked at it in the last post, and even though it can be found along the coast of Russia and Japan, you can just click the link above to learn about it from the last post.  So, just like an otter, let's dive on in!

We'll start with the Eurasian otter, found from Europe down south to northern Africa, and as far east as India, China, and the Malay Archipelago!

Before heading over to Africa, let's focus more on the Asian otters!  First off, we have the smooth-coated otter!  The smooth-coated otter is one of my favorite otters for many reasons!  First off, it has been tamed in some parts of India and Bangladesh to not only catch fish, but also to herd them into fishing nets!  That's pretty awesome!  This otter is very social, living in groups between around 2-11, and fighting off crocodiles.  Wait, what was that?  Did you say fighting off crocodiles?  Technically, no, I wrote it, and you didn't really need to ask, you could have just reread that line again.

Anyways, yes, the smooth-coated otter will actually fight off crocodiles!  More specifically, a certain type of crocodile called the mugger crocodile!  I can sense that a few of you are a little skeptic, so below is the link to a video!

Our next Asian otter is the Asian small-clawed otter!  We actually have these at the Denver Zoo, but I have never been able to get a good picture of them (nor the fishing cats!) due to the weird way the glass was built!  Anyways, the Asian small-clawed otter is the smallest otter in the world, and, like the smooth-coated otter, is very social, living in groups of around 2-15.

Our next otter, our last Asian otter, is the hairy-nosed otter.  Not a lot is known about the hairy-nosed otter: as a matter of fact, it was actually thought to be extinct until 1998.  Since then, numerous pockets of the animal have been rediscovered, but it is still highly at risk.  The hairy-nosed otter is currently labeled as "Endangered" by the IUCN.

On to the African otters!  The African otter with the widest range is the Cape clawless otter, so we'll look at it first!  As its name implies, the front foot of the Cape clawless otter is, in fact, clawless, except for vestigial fingernails.  The Cape clawless otter will inhabit marine habitats, so long as fresh water for drinking is close by!  The Cape clawless otter will dine on, amongst other things, octopus!

The African otter with the second widest range is the spotted-necked otter.  The markings on the spotted-necked otter are unique to each individual animal: just like human thumbprints, no two are alike!

The final African otter (in fact, the final otter altogether), is the Congo clawless otter.  The limited data that scientists have seems to indicate that, despite their similarities, the Congo clawless otter is, indeed, genetically distinct from the Cape clawless otter.  One interesting fact about the Congo clawless otter pertains to its diet: earthworms form a very important component of the diet of this particular otter in many parts of its range!  The otters will root around in the mud in search of their prey, oftentimes consuming up to three earthworms a minute!

Make sure to check out the first post in our "Otters of the World" duology by clicking HERE.  Furthermore, this was the birthday post of Julie Neher! Happy birthday, Julie! Want to see some cute (or ugly) baby animals featured here on your birthday? Well, if you have a birthday coming up, just email me the date at cuyvaldar123946@gmail.com with the date and your favorite animal, and I will do my best to get a post in! And if you like what you are reading, please feel free to follow us here or via Facebook!

Otters of the Americas

Most scientists today accept that there are thirteen extant (still living, opposite of extinct) otters in the world.  Of these, five are native only to the Americas, while one, the sea otter, lives in both the Old World and the New World!  In this post, though, we are going to be only looking at the New World otters, the otters of the Americas!  Let's start up north and work our way downwards!

If we're starting up north, then that would mean that our first otter of the day is the North American river otter!  The diet of the river otter is primarily composed of slow moving, bottom feeding fish, but will eat many other different animals given the opportunity!  Reports of river otters catching and eating snowshoe hare have been recorded, as well!

When my friend Masaki Kleinkopf, my father and I were able to go on a behind the scenes tour at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo with my grandparents, one of the keepers at the grizzly bear enclosure told us a very interesting and funny story!  A few years ago, the four river otters had managed to create a hole in their enclosure large enough for them to squeeze through, and some of them escaped.  One of the river otters was never found, and to this day is still probably roaming the mountainside (unless it got eaten).  If I remember correctly, another one of the otters was captured a few weeks later farther down the mountain, swimming around.  The final two otters were much easier to capture, however, and this is the funny part of the story!  If I remember correctly, the zookeepers figured out that the otters were missing because they went up and visited the nearby grizzly bear enclosure.  Instead of being greeted with the typical blue pond loaded with fish, they were met with a vision of a bloodbath: the waters were red with blood, and there were fish parts everywhere!  And there, on the side of the pond, were two fat and happy otters!

In other river otter news, one was recently captured on a camera trap in Boulder, Colorado, the first such sighting in the area for around 100 years!  Click HERE to be directed to an article to learn more!

Next up, we have the sea otter, the heaviest mustelid, and the only other otter native to North America!  Sea otters also have the thickest fur of any mammal, with around an astonishing ONE MILLION HAIRS PER SQUARE INCH!  Now THAT'S a lot of hairs!  This unfortunately has attracted many, many poachers over the years, and sea otter populations the world over took a serious tumble.  However, in recent years, they have recovered to around two thirds their historical numbers, making it one of the most successful marine conservation movements ever!  The sea otter will also hold hands with other sea otters to avoid floating away from each other, and sometime will form what scientists call "rafts" of around 2,000 individuals!  Click HERE to learn more about the hand holding and the rafts!

Let's take this trip south of the Equator to Mexico, Central, and South America!  The next otter is the neotropical otter and, as you can see by the range map below, is native to all three of those places!  A solitary animal, not a great deal is known about its behavior and habits.

Next up is the second largest mustelid in the world (after the sea otter, of course), the aptly named giant otter!  Although much longer than the sea otter, the giant otter is much more slim.  It is, however, the longest mustelid, growing to lengths of about five and a half feet!  Unlike most mustelids, the giant otter is a fairly social animal, living in groups generally numbering between around four and thirteen individuals, usually composed of one pair of breeding individuals and their offspring from one or more generations.

One of the most interesting things that I have learned about the giant otter is entirely and categorically false: according to one TV show (I am pretty sure it was Survivorman), the giant otter is a threat to people.  I can't remember the exact quote, but in one episode in which he was in the Amazon, he says something along the lines of "I definitely have to watch out for jaguars and insects here, but I've also been told to watch out for the highly aggressive giant otter."  Which is total crap.  The giant otter is often regarded as a nuisance to indigenous peoples, but nowhere have I been able to find anyone saying that they can be dangerous to humans!  I don't recommend that show.

The second to last otter of the Americas is the marine otter.  Much of the marine otter's time is spent out of water, and it rarely, if ever, ventures into rivers or estuaries.  The marine otter is the second smallest otter (the only smaller otter being the Asian small-clawed otter), and, like the neotropical otter, not a lot is known about it.

Finally, we have the southern river otter, another otter about which not a great deal is know.  Although called a river otter, the southern river otter spends a great deal of time in both fresh and salt water.  Some people believe the southern river otter simply to be a sub-species of the North American river otter.

This was the birthday post of Julie Neher! Happy birthday, Julie! Want to see some cute (or ugly) baby animals featured here on your birthday? Well, if you have a birthday coming up, just email me the date at cuyvaldar123946@gmail.com with the date and your favorite animal, and I will do my best to get a post in! And if you like what you are reading, please feel free to follow us here or via Facebook!

Animals of Yosemite National Park

As I talked about IN A PREVIOUS POST, the trip that my family and I took to Yosemite was simply fantastic.  Yosemite was just magical!  However, in the last post, you might have noticed that, with the exception of the odd, Snoopy-looking rock, I neglected to talk about any animals that we saw in Yosemite.  And, if you know anything about my family and this blog, then you know that we saw some animals!  So here are some of those animals that we saw! First off, a mule deer that I believe we saw on our hike up to Sentinel Dome.

Next, we have a scarlet kingsnake that my father and I saw when we walked over to the base of El Capitan.

 

We also saw this lizard at the base of El Capitan.  It looks to me like it might be a skink, but I really have no idea.  If you know what it is, make sure to shoot me an email!

We also saw a large Yosemite toad!  It was just kind of chilling in the middle of a pond, but then something startled it, and it lept into the water!

 

 

 

 

 

We also, of course, saw some bears, which were really super exciting!  Here are some pictures of some of the bears that we saw!

 

 

 

 

The Majesty of Yosemite

I think one of the most majestic places that I have ever visited was easily Yosemite.  It was simply fantastic!  Here are a lot of really good pictures of places within the valley.  Keep in mind that the photos simply don't do justice to the place!  First off, we have a picture of the valley!

Next, we have a few pictures of El Capitan, taken from the base!  In some of the pictures, you can actually see some crazy climbers slowly but surely making their way up the side of the mountain!  Apparently, it takes them THREE WHOLE DAYS to make the ascent!  And they have to sleep  in their harness and do their business in the harness and everything!  Even if I wasn't afraid of heights, those both would be deal breakers for me!

At the time of year that we went, the rivers were absolutely swollen with water.  Actually, I believe we were there on the day with the highest amount of water running through the rivers! 

 

 

 

 

Here is a picture of Sentinel Dome, where my parents got married!

This, I believe, was the view of Half Dome from Sentinel Dome.

Here is a picture of an odd-looking rock formation.  I still think it looks exactly like Snoopy, the World War I flying ace. 

Now for some pictures of the amazing and gorgeous waterfalls!

 Here is a picture of El Capitan off to the left, and then a waterfall on the right.  Gorgeous!

Mammoth Lakes on Dwellable

The Magic of Mariposa Grove

One of the coolest places that we went while in California was the Mariposa Grove, home to the Giant Sequoias, just a short drive outside of Yosemite.  It was absolutely incredible!  These trees were just simply massive, you couldn't even begin to get over their enormous size!  Here are some pictures of it, with myself, my sister, my father, my mother, and some other random people randomly in there for a size comparison!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We also saw these really cool and weird looking red flowers all over the place!  These flowers belong to a plant called the "snow plant," and belong to the genus Sarcodes.  Related to the heaths (i.e. rhododendrons, blueberries  and cranberries), the snow plant is an interesting parasitic plant.  Instead of living off of dead plant and animal material, they infect fungi.  However, they don't kill the fungi once its been infected.  Instead, the fungi and the flower help each other out in a classic case of mutualism!

Finally, I was really excited by this burnt log that, in my opinion, greatly resembled the devil.  Other members of my family thought it resembled a bison more, but clearly they are insane.

 The photo credit for all of the photos in this post go to Julie Neher.

Mariposa on Dwellable