World Otter Day is May 27th!

World Otter Day is May 27th!

Any animal as fun as an otter deserves to have its own day! 

There are 13 species of otters and most live in and around ponds and rivers. The sea otter lives in the Pacific Ocean. Here in South Carolina we have North American River Otters (Lontra Canadensis), and they are in the weasel family.

Otters often look like they are having a good time. They lope around on land, but when they hit the water they really take off! Otters are great swimmers and can hold their breath under water for up to 8 minutes. With their webbed feet and waterproof fur, they are made for swimming. They have oil glands in their skin, which helps keep their fur water-resistant and warm. They groom their fur often to keep it in good shape. Otters have a long muscular body with a long tail that’s sometimes referred to as a rudder since it helps them change direction in the water.

Otters have very sharp teeth, and eat fish, amphibians, turtles, and crawfish. Their whiskers detect movement in the water, which helps them catch fish. They even use their front paws to turn over stones in the water as they look for food. Otters are very sensitive to environmental pollution, so it is important to keep our rivers clean!

Here at Brookgreen Gardens, we have river otters in our zoo. This spring something special happened. One of our otters had pups! Yes, otter babies are called pups, too. Three babies were born on Jan 27, 2020 to Elliott and John. John is the mother’s name because she was a rescued otter from the St. John’s River in Florida.

otter pups.jpg

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Our otter pups have been busy growing and learning from their mother. You can come visit them and watch them swim in our River Basin Retreat in the Lowcountry Zoo.

A Fun Otter Craft

otter with fish.jpg

Materials:

Construction Paper

Scissors

Craft glue

Procedure:

Print out the template of the otter outline.

otter template 1.jpg

Lay another piece of paper over the outline and trace the face and belly shape.

Cut out the parts of the body including the face and belly. Don’t forget the fish!

otter parts.jpg

Trace the parts onto a dark brown piece of construction paper, except for the face and the belly, which can be traced onto a lighter tan piece of paper.

Cut out parts.

Trace and cut the fish out of another color of paper. It’s all in the details, so draw an eye and scales on your fish!

otter belly and face.jpg

Glue your otter together and put the fish in his paws!

Don’t forget to give your otter a face!

otter face.jpg

Check out the Magnificent Brookgreen Gardens Story House Books, Elliot Learns to Swim!, to see how the pups’ father learned to swim when he was small!