Animal_Tales_-_February_2020

(^28) AnimalTales

L TO R: LUIS M. VIEIRA/SHUTTERSTOCK; SHUTTERSTOCK; DANNY JAMES/SHUTTERSTOCK; ONDREJ CHVATAL/SHUTTERSTOCK; APPLE

O

ttersaresuper-silly

marinemammals!With

theircuriousfaces

andcharismaticbehaviors,otters

havewonovertheheartsofmany

animallovers.Tofindoutmore

aboutthem,AnimalTalesasked

LisaMelnik,a wildanimalkeeper

at theAkronZooin Ohio,togive

usalltheotterinfo!

OTTER TYPES

There 13 differentspeciesof otter

acrosstheglobe,butonlytwoof

themlivein NorthAmerica.“[There

are]seaottersthatlivealongthe

coast,andNorthAmericanriver

ottersthatlivein streamsand

rivers,”Lisatellsus.“Allottersare

mustelids,meaningthey’rerelated

toskunks,weaselsandferrets.”It

canbeotterly confusingto

differentiatebetweensea

ottersandriverotters,but

theirmaindifferencesare

foundin theirsizes,theirfur

andtheirswimmingstyles.

Seaottersarelarger,have

thickerfurandareknown

forfloatingaroundin the

waterontheirbacks.Lisa

saysseaotterswillevenfall

asleepwhilefloatingat thewater’s

surface,butriverottersdon’tfloat

ontheirbacksandwillsticktoland

whenit’stimefornap.“Riverotters

prefertosleepundertheirhollow

logsonlandratherthanin the

water,”sheshares.

FUR SHIELD

Bothseaottersandriverotters

havespecial fur. Unlike other

marine mammals that rely on a

thick layer of blubber to insulate

them from cold waters, otters have

their extremely thick pelts (skin

and fur). “When North American

river otters dive under water, air

is actually trapped between two

layers of fur,” Lisa says. “That layer

of air acts as insulation to keep

them warm. They stay completely

comfortable no matter what the

water temperature is!”

Like river otters, sea otters’ fur

also acts as insulation. In fact,

their fur is so thick, their actual

skin never even gets wet despite

living their entire lives in the ocean!

Unfortunately, otters’ lush fur also

nearly led to their extinction: In the

18th and 19th centuries, their pelts

were used to make coats and other

outerwear. “They were previously

hunted for their pelts almost to the

point of extinction,” Lisa reveals.

Learn all about these zany creatures!

WIth one million hairs per square

inch, otters have the thickest fur of

any mammal in the animal kingdom.

Otters have^

superb metabolisms.^

They eat up to 15^

percent of their body

weight each day!

Otters