Otters really look like they’re living the life!  They are super cute and very smart, otters are also very chatty. Unfortunately, out of their 13 species, only one seems to be thriving, that species is the North American River Otter. North American River Otters are found mostly in North America and Canada. They are both marine and freshwater animals; they don’t really like to hang with humans, because they like to live in unpolluted water. Otters are carnivores, they like to eat fish, frogs, turtles, and insects on occasion. They will either hunt alone or in pairs, they try to find their meals in the water, but they are also known for traveling up to 18 miles on land to find food!

Otters usually live alone, sometimes they live in pairs. But they LOVE to socialize in groups! Their long athletic bodies help them do lots of fun tricks like twisting, turning, rolling, and diving. If you were to visit an otter exhibit at the zoo, or luckily see one in the wild, you would probably see them sliding, diving, or burrowing in the water, mud, or snow.

What is spraint? The answer you have been waiting for…. well it’s the otters’ poop. Otters’ poop has such a distinct smell, they gave it its own name. Every single otters’ spraint has its own unique composition and smell. Scientists believe that otters can figure out the sex, age, and reproductive statics with just a quick whiff of another otters’ spraint. When male otters are together, they play together and groom each other before they poop. One researcher called this the “poop dance.” In videos taken of them, you can see the male otters waving their booties around, they might be doing this to get to know each other by smelling each others’ spraint. All in all, otters are pretty cool, even if they do smell each other’s poop all day. (poop dance link, POOP WARNING)