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Otter, common otter, river otter or piston(lat. Lutra lutra) - a species of predatory mammals of the mustelid family, leading a semi-aquatic lifestyle; one of three species of the otter genus ( Lutra). In the literature, the word “otter” usually means this species.

Appearance

The otter is a large animal with an elongated, flexible, streamlined body. Body length - 55-95 cm, tail - 26-55 cm, weight - 6-10 kg. The paws are short, with webbed swimming. The tail is muscular, not fluffy.

Fur color: dark brown above, light, silver below. The guard hairs are coarse, but the underfur is very thick and delicate. The density of the fur coat can reach 51 thousand per 1 cm2. Such a high density of the undercoat makes the fur completely impervious to water and perfectly insulates the animal’s body, protecting it from hypothermia. The otter's body structure is adapted for swimming underwater: flat head, short legs, long tail.

Spreading

The most common representative of the otter subfamily. It is found over a wide area, covering almost all of Europe (except the Netherlands and Switzerland), Asia (except the Arabian Peninsula) and North Africa. In Russia it is found everywhere, including in the Far North in the Magadan region, in Chukotka.

Lifestyle and nutrition

The otter leads a semi-aquatic lifestyle, swimming, diving and getting food in the water. An otter can remain underwater for up to 2 minutes.

It lives mainly in forest rivers rich in fish, less often in lakes and ponds. Found on the sea coast. It prefers rivers with whirlpools, with rapids that do not freeze in winter, with washed-out banks littered with windbreaks, where there are many reliable shelters and places for making burrows. Sometimes it makes its lairs in caves or, like a nest, in thickets near the water. The entrance holes of its burrows open under water.

The hunting grounds of one otter in summer comprise a section of the river ranging from 2 to 18 km long and about 100 m deep into the coastal zone. In winter, when fish stocks are depleted and wormwood freezes, it is forced to wander, sometimes directly crossing high watersheds. At the same time, the otter descends from the slopes, rolling down on its belly, leaving a characteristic trace in the form of a gutter. On ice and snow it travels up to 15-20 km per day.

The otter feeds mainly on fish (carp, pike, trout, roach, gobies), and prefers small fish. In winter it eats frogs, and quite regularly eats caddisfly larvae. In summer, in addition to fish, it catches water voles and other rodents; In some places it systematically hunts waders and ducks.

Social structure and reproduction

Otters are solitary animals. Mating, depending on climatic conditions, occurs in the spring (March - April), or almost all year round, as, for example, in England. Otters mate in the water. Pregnancy - with a latent period reaching up to 270 days; The gestation period itself is only 63 days. There are usually 2-4 blind cubs in a litter. Baby otters are called pups.

Sexual maturity in otters occurs in the second or third year of life.

Economic importance

In some areas of Bangladesh, otters are used as hunting animals - they drive fish into fishermen's nets (at the same time, adult individuals are kept on long leather leashes, and young animals swim freely - they still will not swim away from their parents).

Population status and conservation

Hunting and the use of pesticides in agriculture have reduced the number of otters. In 2000, the common otter was listed as a "vulnerable" species on the IUCN Red List.

The species is listed in the Red Book of the Sverdlovsk region, Saratov and Rostov regions.

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Notes

Links

• Wozencraft, W.C./ Wilson D. E. & Reeder D. M. (eds). - 3rd edition. - Johns Hopkins University Press, November 16, 2005. - ISBN 0-801-88221-4. OCLC

Excerpt characterizing Otter

Natasha was 16 years old, and the year was 1809, the same year that four years ago she had counted on her fingers with Boris after she kissed him. Since then she has never seen Boris. In front of Sonya and with her mother, when the conversation turned to Boris, she spoke completely freely, as if it were a settled matter, that everything that happened before was childish, which was not worth talking about, and which had long been forgotten. But in the deepest depths of her soul, the question of whether the commitment to Boris was a joke or an important, binding promise tormented her.
Ever since Boris left Moscow for the army in 1805, he had not seen the Rostovs. He visited Moscow several times, passed near Otradny, but never visited the Rostovs.
It sometimes occurred to Natasha that he did not want to see her, and these guesses were confirmed by the sad tone in which the elders used to say about him:
“In this century they don’t remember old friends,” the countess said after the mention of Boris.
Anna Mikhailovna, who had been visiting the Rostovs less often lately, also behaved with particular dignity, and every time she spoke enthusiastically and gratefully about the merits of her son and about the brilliant career he was on. When the Rostovs arrived in St. Petersburg, Boris came to visit them.
He went to them not without excitement. The memory of Natasha was Boris's most poetic memory. But at the same time, he traveled with the firm intention of making it clear to both her and her family that the childhood relationship between him and Natasha could not be an obligation for either her or him. He had a brilliant position in society, thanks to his intimacy with Countess Bezukhova, a brilliant position in the service, thanks to the patronage of an important person, whose trust he fully enjoyed, and he had nascent plans to marry one of the richest brides in St. Petersburg, which could very easily come true . When Boris entered the Rostovs' living room, Natasha was in her room. Having learned about his arrival, she, flushed, almost ran into the living room, beaming with a more than affectionate smile.
Boris remembered that Natasha in a short dress, with black eyes shining from under her curls and with a desperate, childish laugh, whom he knew 4 years ago, and therefore, when a completely different Natasha entered, he was embarrassed, and his face expressed enthusiastic surprise. This expression on his face delighted Natasha.
- So, do you recognize your little friend as a naughty girl? - said the countess. Boris kissed Natasha's hand and said that he was surprised by the change that had taken place in her.
- How prettier you have become!
“Of course!” answered Natasha’s laughing eyes.
- Has dad gotten older? – she asked. Natasha sat down and, without entering into Boris’s conversation with the countess, silently examined her childhood fiancé down to the smallest detail. He felt the weight of this persistent, affectionate gaze on himself and occasionally glanced at her.
The uniform, the spurs, the tie, Boris’s hairstyle, all this was the most fashionable and comme il faut [quite decent]. Natasha noticed this now. He sat slightly sideways on the armchair next to the countess, straightening the clean, stained glove on his left with his right hand, spoke with a special, refined pursing of his lips about the amusements of the highest St. Petersburg society and with gentle mockery recalled the old Moscow times and Moscow acquaintances. It was not by chance, as Natasha felt, that he mentioned, naming the highest aristocracy, about the envoy's ball, which he had attended, about the invitations to NN and SS.
Natasha sat silently the whole time, looking at him from under her brows. This look bothered and embarrassed Boris more and more. He looked back at Natasha more often and paused in his stories. He sat for no more than 10 minutes and stood up, bowing. The same curious, defiant and somewhat mocking eyes looked at him. After his first visit, Boris told himself that Natasha was just as attractive to him as before, but that he should not give in to this feeling, because marrying her, a girl with almost no fortune, would be the ruin of his career, and resuming a previous relationship without the goal of marriage would be an ignoble act. Boris decided with himself to avoid meeting with Natasha, but, despite this decision, he arrived a few days later and began to travel often and spend whole days with the Rostovs. It seemed to him that he needed to explain himself to Natasha, to tell her that everything old should be forgotten, that, despite everything... she could not be his wife, that he had no fortune, and she would never be given for him. But he still didn’t succeed and it was awkward to begin this explanation. Every day he became more and more confused. Natasha, as her mother and Sonya noted, seemed to be in love with Boris as before. She sang him his favorite songs, showed him her album, forced him to write in it, did not allow him to remember the old, making him understand how wonderful the new was; and every day he left in a fog, without saying what he intended to say, not knowing what he was doing and why he had come, and how it would end. Boris stopped visiting Helen, received reproachful notes from her every day, and still spent whole days with the Rostovs.

One evening, when the old countess, sighing and groaning, in a nightcap and blouse, without false curls, and with one poor tuft of hair protruding from under a white calico cap, was making prostrations for evening prayer on the rug, her door creaked, and Natasha ran in, shoes on her bare feet, also in a blouse and curlers. The Countess looked around and frowned. She finished reading her last prayer: “Will this coffin be my bed?” Her prayerful mood was destroyed. Natasha, red and animated, seeing her mother at prayer, suddenly stopped in her run, sat down and involuntarily stuck out her tongue, threatening herself. Noticing that her mother continued her prayer, she ran on tiptoe to the bed, quickly sliding one small foot over the other, kicked off her shoes and jumped onto the bed for which the countess was afraid that it might not be her coffin. This bed was tall, made of feather beds, with five ever-decreasing pillows. Natasha jumped up, sank into the feather bed, rolled over to the wall and began fiddling around under the blanket, laying down, bending her knees to her chin, kicking her legs and laughing barely audibly, now covering her head, now looking at her mother. The Countess finished her prayer and approached the bed with a stern face; but, seeing that Natasha had her head covered, she smiled her kind, weak smile.

The river otter is called the European or common otter. This animal of the mustelid family is a predatory mammal. Otters can be found not only in water, but also on land. On the European part of the continent, this animal in its only form represents the group of “semi-aquatic predatory mammals of the mustelid family.” Otter habitats are rivers and lakes with fresh water. The otter is a fairly large animal. Its body length ranges from 55 to 95 centimeters, and it weighs about ten kilograms.

Since the animal leads a semi-aquatic lifestyle, it has some external differences: it is a flexible, highly elongated, thin body, a tail, the length of which is almost half the length of the body, short legs that make the otter look squat, and there are swimming membranes between the toes. The small, narrow and flattened head is located on a rather long neck. The otter has small, rounded ears and eyes directed forward and upward. When an animal is in water, its ear canals are closed by its paws.

The otter's fur is not long, but it has a very thick down. Its fur is shiny, rather coarse, close to the body, brown in color, on the belly a little lighter than on the back. In winter, the animal's fur is longer than in summer. There is no fur on the feet and hands.

Habitats. Lifestyle and nutrition.

The freshwater otter lives in almost the entire European part, except Switzerland and the Netherlands, and is also found in Asia and North Africa. In Russia it cannot be found only in the Far North.

As mentioned above, this animal leads a semi-aquatic lifestyle. Otters are excellent divers and swimmers, as they have to feed in the water. Most often, the otter can be seen in forest rivers, in which there is a lot of fish, and less often - on the shores of lakes. For their homes, otters prefer rivers with whirlpools and rapids that are not covered with ice in winter, or banks washed away by water, where there are windfalls and places for burrows. Sometimes otters choose coastal caves for their homes or build something like a nest near the water. However, it is worth noting that the entrance to its burrow is always under water.

Each otter has its own places for hunting, this can be a stretch of water from two to eighteen kilometers and about a hundred meters deep into the coastal zone. In winter, when there is little fish, supplies run out, the ice holes are covered with ice, and the animal is forced to look for food in other places. Sometimes they have to travel long distances. If there is a slope on its way, the otter slides down it on its belly, leaving a trail resembling a gutter. The animal is capable of walking up to twenty kilometers on ice and snow per day.

The otter is distinguished by its secrecy and caution, especially when it is forced to be on land. Before leaving the pond, she carefully examines the nearby space, and camouflages the place where she goes ashore with branches and fin. Once on land, the animal always walks along the shore, only swimming if necessary. The otter moves along the water with the current, and if there is a riffle or rapid along the way, it goes around them on land. This animal, walking along the bank against the current, knows how to find a shortcut, accurately finding the narrowest point of the bends. On each path of its passage there is a section where the otter quickly runs without stopping. Having reached the reservoir, she dives into the water directly from the path, and if the bank is steep, she slides down on her belly. The paths of the otter are different from the paths of river beavers. The otter's path always goes along the shore, without moving away from the water, and beavers walk perpendicular to the shore. And the footprint of an otter cannot be confused with any other. In its tracks you can clearly see the imprints of membranes and between the paw prints there is a trace from a dragging tail.

The otter is very mobile and has a playful disposition; it especially likes to slide down from different heights. Moreover, adult animals, like their young, love to slide off steep banks and plop into the water. The places of their games can be identified by polished slopes, the height of which can reach up to twenty meters. In winter, their games change a little, the otters scatter and then slide on their bellies through the snow two to three meters. It is clear that after this a trace remains in the snow, similar to a gutter. Most likely, this is not just fun, but a necessity, since in this way the otter squeezes moisture out of its fur.

The animal feeds on fish. On the Volga, she hunts carp and pike; she does this in channels with standing water and thickets of reeds. In northern rivers, its food is grayling that lives on the rifts. In the Murmansk rivers, the object of its hunt is brown trout and cod, and on the Kola Peninsula the predator catches trout and pike. But at the same time, its preference is still small fish, so in spawning areas it happily eats fry.

The otter is not a pair animal. As a rule, mating occurs in early spring, always in water. The female carries her cubs along with the latent period for about two hundred and seventy days, but the gestation itself lasts two months. As a rule, otter cubs are born from two to four. They are born blind. Individuals are considered sexually mature when they are approximately two years old.

The otter is a valuable fur. Restrictions on otter hunting.

This animal has not only beautiful, but also very durable fur, the durability of which is one hundred percent important. When processing fur, coarse hairs are plucked out, leaving a thick down. The fur of the otter, which lives in Alaska, is considered the most valuable. Otter fur coats can withstand about thirty seasons of wear, especially the fur of sea otters.

However, due to uncontrolled hunting of these animals and the widespread use of pesticides in agriculture, the population has decreased significantly. In the year 2000, the otter was listed as a vulnerable animal species by the World Conservation Union. And in the Sverdlovsk region it was listed in the Red Book.

Otter hunting with a trap.

You can hunt an otter in different ways, but most often, hunters use traps. It happens that an animal accidentally falls into a trap set for a beaver, since their paths and hunting grounds are the same. Setting a trap specifically for an otter is quite difficult and few people know how to do it correctly.

Trace traps

To begin with, at the beginning of autumn, you should reconnoiter the area near water bodies and determine whether there are otters there. Most often, the otter can be found near beaver dam crossings, under cliffs, or near pools. On the wet soil of the shore, five-toed otter tracks are clearly visible and easily distinguishable. And also in feeding areas near dams, where there are a lot of fish, you can see their droppings.

This is where traps need to be set. Traps No. 3 and No. 5, which have a sim or plate alert, are well suited. Of course, the first one is better, since it is more sensitive to pressure. This trap is triggered immediately as soon as the animal’s paw steps on the plane, and a reliable capture occurs. Do not forget that the trap you set must be verified. After purchasing a trap, carefully remove the grease from it and treat it as follows: put dry grass and leaves in a bucket, place the trap there and pour boiling water over it. Then there will be no foreign odors left.

Traps on a floating log.

Such a trap can be installed like this: firmly install two stakes downstream into the bottom of the reservoir, so that the distance between them is 3-4 meters. Attach a piece of log or board, about a meter long, at least thirty centimeters wide, to the stakes using wire, so that the log is between them. A trap is placed on a log or board. To do this, a recess is made corresponding to the size of the trap. You should also take care to camouflage the trap, for example, with dry algae or whatever you find on the shore.

To prevent an animal caught in a trap from leaving with it, it must be firmly secured with a chain or thick wire to a bracket, which must first be hammered into a log. To a peg located upstream, tie a piece of butter wrapped in clean gauze on a strong fishing line. The otter will smell the oil from afar and will begin to search for an object emitting this aroma. She will swim to the log and climb onto it, immediately falling into a trap. If she manages to jump into the water with the trap, she will die.

Traps in the otter's closet

This is one of the most prey types of otter hunting. To use it, you need to know an interesting feature of this animal - in its habitat, the otter sets up unique “latrines” in several places, which it visits daily. So, traps should be placed on the paths, on the way to the “latrines”. The trap must have a long chain - a leash or a strong wire, with which it is attached to a heavy stone or peg. The length of the leash should not allow the animal to drag the trap into the water.

Don't forget about camouflage. In this case, sand works well. It is better to use frame traps with a mesh made of coarse threads or strong fishing line. It should be remembered that the otter is a strong animal with fairly muscular legs. Therefore, to hunt it, you need traps that are durable and have a powerful spring.

Before installing a trap near the “latrine”, do not forget that you need to remove the factory grease from it or, if it is old, remove the rust. Heat its surface and rub it with wax, which will not only prevent rust from appearing, but will also eliminate odors that may alert the animal. This type of otter hunting can only be used from the beginning of the hunting season until ice appears on the water.

Trap with fish bait

This type of hunting is especially successful in winter fishing, during the period when the otter moves along the river under thick ice. The trap should be installed in the hole. In winter, the otter leads a particularly secretive lifestyle, and finding its habitat is not easy. When there is a lot of snow, the animal rarely approaches the surface, making its way under the ice layer from one between ice holes. If the otter is lucky and finds a wormwood with an abundance of fish, it may well remain there for several days. At the same time, the animal may not come to the surface, devouring prey directly in the hole.

In winter, the otter can be found by the holes it makes in the snow. Carefully making its way under the ice, the animal comes to the surface, breaking through the snow with its strong body. Sticking its head out of the snow, the otter looks around and then sinks back under the ice. After this, a hole remains in the snow - an outlet, round in shape, with a diameter of about twelve centimeters. In places where there are vents, it is worth carefully inspecting the holes. If you notice otter droppings, fish or frog bones, or prints of webbed feet, this is where you should set the trap. Even if the animal has already left this place, it will definitely return to it in a few days.

For this type of hunting, both frame and plate traps with teeth on arches No. 3 and No. 5 are suitable. The trap is placed in the water, at a depth of thirty centimeters to the bottom. For bait, you should take only fresh fish, for example, small burbot - the most favorite food of otters. The fish in the frame trap is attached, passed through its abdomen, with a strong thread to the tailor, or the thread with the fish is simply tied to the frame and guard of the trap.

In plate traps, the bait is attached to the plate so that the fish's head is directed against the current. In this case, it looks like a living fish that stands still, moving its tail and fins. You can also use frogs for bait if you prepare them in the fall. The animal, seeing the bait, makes a swift dash towards it and falls headlong into the trap.

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Of all the mustelids, the otter is most closely associated with water in its life. This leaves a strong imprint on the entire structure of her body. The otter's strongly elongated body rests on short legs, the toes of which are connected by swimming membranes reaching to the claws. Her skull is strongly flattened from top to bottom. Small, barely noticeable, almost entirely immersed in fur, the otter’s ears, like the nostrils, are equipped with special leathery valves that close them when immersed in water. The tail is strong, muscular and thick at the base, somewhat flattened laterally and serves as an excellent rudder for swimming and diving. Otter dental formula: 3.1.4.1/3.1.3.2 = 36

The size of the otter is quite large. The body length with tail of the male is about 120 cm, sometimes more. The weight of an adult male is 7-10 kg. The female is smaller than the male and weighs about 5 kg. Otter fur is smooth, shiny, fluffy and very poorly wetted by water. The color of the otter is dark brown, even, on the sides gradually turning into a lighter and silvery color of the belly and chest.

Distributed throughout Europe and Asia (except for the far north), in Arabia and southeastern Indochina, in northwestern Africa. In Russia, the otter is found throughout the entire territory, excluding the far north and Crimea, but is quite rare everywhere.

The otter lives mainly in forest rivers rich in fish, and less often in lakes. The otter rarely lives in one place for a long time and often migrates from place to place, sometimes making quite long journeys overland. It is forced to make these migrations, obviously, by the reduction in its main food resource in this place - fish, which it quickly destroys. Of course, otter migrations are also affected by forest fires and logging. The otter lives in a hole, which is quite primitive and small. The entrance to it is always located under water. From the entrance there is an upward inclined passage, at the end of which there is a nesting chamber, always located above the highest level of the water spill of a given reservoir. There are usually one or two narrow ventilation holes leading from the nesting chamber. In addition to the main burrow, the otter has a number of temporary shelters.

The otter is primarily nocturnal and hunts during the day only occasionally in winter. On the ground it moves slowly, in leaps and bounds, arching its long body and dragging its heavy tail along the ground. The otter's native element is water, and it feels great in it. The otter swims superbly both on water and under water, and so quickly that it catches and catches fish and swims a distance of 160-300 m. However, it can no longer climb trees, like a mink. In winter, it stays near non-freezing sections of rivers with fast flows and the presence of wormwood, and if there are none, it makes holes in the ice for itself.

The otter's main diet is fish. She chooses weak-scaled species, such as burbot, catfish, and grayling. In addition to fish, the otter eats various mammals that live near the water, waterfowl, their chicks and eggs, frogs and crayfish, but all this to a much lesser extent than fish. Plant food is almost absent.

The otter's heat time has not been precisely established. Many scientists believe that it occurs in February - March. The duration of pregnancy is not clear. Young otters are born blind, in numbers from 2 to 4. They gain sight in approximately 10 days. The male does not participate in raising the young. The brood remains with the mother for about six months. The otter reaches sexual maturity after two years of life.

Otter molting is still poorly studied. As in general for aquatic animals, the molting period is obviously very extended and has a rather weak effect on the quality of the skin. The otter's summer skin, although good quality, is still most valuable in winter.

The psyche of the otter is quite well developed. Her hearing, vision and sense of smell are perfectly developed. In captivity, the otter survives well and gets used to people. The voice is rare, and it resembles a sharp screech. Attacked by a dog, the otter desperately defends itself and inflicts serious injuries on its pursuer.

The otter, of course, causes some harm to humans by destroying the fish, but due to its rarity, this harm is small, and where it is hunted, it is completely redeemed by the highly valuable skin.

Otter is one of the species of mammalian predators that belongs to the mustelid family. The size of the mammal directly depends on the variety.

On average, they range from 50 cm to 95 cm, the length of its fluffy tail is from 22 cm to 55 cm. This animal is quite flexible and has a muscular body. An interesting feature is that an animal with dimensions of about a meter weighs only 10 kg.

All types of otters have one color - brown or brown. Their fur is short, but thick, which makes it very valuable. In spring and summer, the otter has a molting period.

Otters are one of those who care for and care for their fur, combing it and cleaning it. If they do not do this, the wool will become dirty and will no longer retain heat, and this will certainly lead to death.

Due to its small eyes, the otter sees perfectly on land and under water. They also have short legs and sharp nails. The toes of the paws are connected by membranes, which makes it possible to swim well.

When an otter dives into water, its ear openings and nostrils are closed by valves, thus blocking the penetration of water there. In pursuit of prey underwater, an otter can swim up to 300 m.

When the mammal senses danger, it makes a hissing sound. While playing with each other, they squeal or chirp. An interesting fact is that in some parts of the world the otter is used as a hunting animal. They are able to drive fish into nets.

The otter has a lot of enemies. Depending on their habitat, these can be birds of prey, crocodiles, bears, stray dogs, wolves and jaguars. But man remains the main enemy; he not only hunts her, but pollutes and destroys her living environment.

Habitat and lifestyle of the otter

The otter can be found on every continent, the only exception being. Due to the fact that their habitat is connected with water, they live near lakes, rivers and other bodies of water, the water must also be clean and have a strong current. During the winter (cold) period, the otter can be seen in those parts of the river that are not frozen.

At night the animal hunts, and during the daytime it prefers to rest. It does this in the roots of trees that grow near water or in their burrows. The entrance to the hole is always built under water. For otters beaver brings benefits, she lives in the holes that he dug, since she does not build her own. If nothing threatens the otter, they are active during the day.

If an otter becomes unsafe in its usual place, it can easily travel 20 km in search of new housing (regardless of the time of year). The paths she tramples have been used by her for several years. It is interesting to watch the animal in winter; it moves through the snow by jumping, alternating with sliding on its stomach.

Depending on the species, otters react differently to captivity. Some become despondent, stop taking care of themselves, and ultimately may die. The latter, on the contrary, are very friendly, quickly adapt to a new environment, and are quite playful.

Types of otters

In total there are 17 species of otters and 5 subfamilies. The most popular of them:

• River otter(ordinary).
• sea ​​otter(sea otter).
• Caucasian otter.
• Brazilian otter (giant).

The sea otter is a marine mammal otter beaver, so the sea otter is also called the sea beaver. It is distinguished by its large size, reaching up to 150 cm and weighing up to 45 kg.

They have fairly dense fur, which makes it possible to not freeze in the water. At the beginning of the 20th century otter population(sea otters) has decreased significantly due to the high demand for fur.

At this stage, their numbers have increased significantly, but they cannot be hunted. It is very interesting to watch them, because sea otters store their food in a “pocket”, which is located under their front limb on the left. And in order to split, they use stones. Their lifespan is 9-11 years; in captivity they can live more than 20 years.

The giant otter can reach up to 2 meters, 70 cm of which is in the tail. Its weight is up to 26 kg. At the same time, the sea otter weighs much more, but is smaller in size. Brazilian otters live in families of up to 20 individuals, the head of the family is the female.

They are active during daylight hours and rest at night. Their life expectancy is up to 10 years. The Caucasian otter is listed in the Red Book. The population decline is due to pollution of water bodies, a decrease in the number of fish and poaching. Otter photo and their relatives can be found on the pages of our website.

Nutrition

The otter's diet includes mainly fish, but they can also eat mollusks, eggs, crustaceans and even some terrestrial rodents. Also not a friend otters and muskrat, which can easily end up with a predatory animal for lunch.

Otters spend a very large part of their lives in search of food; they are quite agile and fast. Due to their gluttony, their habitats must be fishy. This animal is a wonderful hunter, so after eating, the hunt does not end, and the caught fish act as a kind of toy.

Otters are of great benefit to fisheries, as they feed on non-commercial fish, which in turn eat eggs and fry. An otter eats about 1 kg of fish per day, with the small ones being kept in the water and the large ones being pulled out onto sushi. She feeds in water in this way: she places it on her stomach and eats.

After finishing the meal, it carefully spins in the water to cleanse the body of food debris. He is a clean animal. The animal does not respond to baits left by hunters, so it is extremely difficult to attract an animal in this way, unless it must be very hungry.

Otter reproduction and lifespan

The period of puberty in a female otter occurs after two years, in a male otter after three. They are solitary animals. Mating takes place in water. The otter breeds once a year, this period falls in the spring.

The female has a very interesting gestation period; after fertilization, development can stop and then begin again. For this reason, a female can give birth both at the beginning of winter and in mid-spring (latent gestation can last up to 270 days). The gestation period lasts from 60 to 85 days.

The litter ranges from 2 to 4 babies. They are born blind and covered in fur; sight appears after a month of life. In the second month of life, babies develop teeth and learn to swim; by 6 months they become independent. After about a year, the babies leave their mother.

The average lifespan of an otter is about 15-16 years. The ranks of these wonderful animals are thinning significantly. The reason is not only polluted water bodies, but also poaching. Otter hunting prohibited by law. In some countries, this wonderful animal is listed in the book.

The main value for hunters is otter fur– it is of quite high quality and durable. Beaver, otter, muskrat are the main sources of fur, which they love to use for sewing various products.

, or common otter, or or raspberry(lat. Lutra lutra) - a species of predatory mammals of the mustelid family, leading a semi-aquatic lifestyle; one of three species of the genus otter (Lutra). In the literature, the word “otter” usually means this species.

This is the only representative in our country of a large group of semi-aquatic predatory mammals from the mustelid family that live in fresh water bodies - rivers and lakes. The closest relatives of our otter live in the tropics of Southeast Asia and Africa.

Appearance

The otter is a large animal with an elongated, flexible, streamlined body. Body length - 55-95 cm, tail - 26-55 cm, weight - 6-10 kg, an animal with a very characteristic appearance, reflecting its adaptability to life in water. The body is highly elongated and relatively thin, very flexible. The tail is long (about half the length of the body), very thick at the base and tapering towards the end. The legs are short, which is why the animal looks squat; the toes are connected by swimming membranes. The neck is quite long, only slightly narrower than the body. The head is small, narrow, strongly flattened, the eyes are oriented forward and upward (almost like those of seals), the rounded ears are short and widely spaced. In water, the external auditory canal is closed by a special valve.

Fur color: dark brown above, light, silver below. The guard hairs are coarse, but the underfur is very thick and delicate. The density of the fur coat can reach 51 thousand per 1 cm2. Such a high density of the undercoat makes the fur completely impervious to water and perfectly insulates the animal’s body, protecting it from hypothermia. The otter's body structure is adapted for swimming underwater: flat head, short legs, long tail.

In summer, the fur is only slightly shorter and less frequent than in winter. The covering hairs in their terminal third are wide and flattened, as if covering the downy hairs, protecting them from getting wet in water. The feet and hands are bare underneath.

Spreading

The most widespread representative of the otter subfamily. It is found over a vast area, covering almost all of Europe (except the Netherlands and Switzerland), Asia (except the Arabian Peninsula) and North Africa. In Russia it is found everywhere, including in the Far North in the Magadan region, in Chukotka.

Lifestyle and nutrition

Water is vital for the otter: it gets food in it and seeks salvation from danger. But land is also of great importance in the life of an otter: on it the animal makes shelters and reproduces, rests, and makes transitions between bodies of water. In our area, the main factor on which the presence of an otter depends is the presence of bodies of water that do not completely freeze in cold weather: in winter, ice holes and “vents” through which it penetrates into the water are important for its survival. Thick ice cover is an insurmountable barrier for the otter, making it impossible to obtain underwater food (and this predator almost never hunts on land).

The otter leads a semi-aquatic lifestyle, swimming, diving and getting food in the water. An otter can stay underwater for up to 2 minutes.

It lives mainly in forest rivers rich in fish, less often in lakes and ponds. Found on the sea coast. It prefers rivers with whirlpools, with rapids that do not freeze in winter, with washed-out banks littered with windbreaks, where there are many reliable shelters and places for making burrows. Sometimes it makes its lairs in caves or, like a nest, in thickets near the water. The entrance holes of its burrows open under water.

The hunting grounds of one otter in summer comprise a section of the river ranging from 2 to 18 km long and about 100 m deep into the coastal zone. In winter, when fish stocks are depleted and wormwood freezes, it is forced to wander, sometimes directly crossing high watersheds. At the same time, the otter descends from the slopes, rolling down on its belly, leaving a characteristic trace in the form of a gutter. On ice and snow it travels up to 15-20 km per day.

Where the otter is not pursued by hunters, it, unlike the mink, prefers rivers with clear water, fast flowing and rocky beds, rivers with steep overhanging banks, avoiding reservoirs with standing or slowly flowing opaque water, silted or overgrown with aquatic vegetation. In quiet places, this animal even settles on the outskirts of large cities. However, in places where the otter is actively hunted, it prefers the most remote places - forests with dense undergrowth, reed fields, intertwined tugai trees. There, the otter settles in small rivers with cluttered riverbeds, rubble and creases of dead wood. This sometimes prevents the otter from hunting, but it also makes such places less accessible to humans.

The habitat of the river otter, individual or family, is small, limited to a narrow coastal strip, the width of which rarely exceeds 200-300 meters. In waters rich in food, this predator lives sedentarily in an area stretching along the river for 2-5 kilometers. Where there is little food, the territory occupied by the animal may consist of separate hunting areas, which it visits once every 2-3 days. The owner marks certain places in his territory with urine and excrement (which is why they are sometimes not entirely correctly called “otter latrines”), but relations between neighbors are quite peaceful. And during unfavorable periods of life, the boundaries between habitat areas practically disappear: animals gather in places where there is more food or it is more accessible, they hunt near each other, and use the same convenient approaches under the ice.

In difficult times, the otter turns into an avid traveler, and in different regions the reasons prompting the animal to change its place of residence can be completely different. In the north, the otter moves away due to unfavorable ice conditions: the animal leads a virtually semi-nomadic lifestyle in winter, moving from ice hole to ice hole, from one body of water to another for a distance of up to 30 kilometers, in some places even up to 60 kilometers. In the lower reaches of rivers, where floods are high, the otter is forced to make spring migrations and returns to its habitable places only when the flood waters recede. In Central Asia, on the contrary, migrations are caused by summer shallowing and drying up of water bodies: the otter goes to where more water is stored. In the Far East, the movements of otters from one river to another are usually associated with the spawning run of red fish: in the middle of summer, the fish-eating predator rises after its prey to the upper reaches of the rivers, and in the fall, after it, “rolls down” to the lower reaches.

In its habitat, the otter builds one permanent burrow and several temporary shelters and shelters. She usually digs a hole in a coastal cliff, even if it is not high; if possible, borrow someone else's. In winter, the otter's refuge is located near a polynya or under the canopy of a steep bank under the surface of the ice, where an empty space forms between the ice and the receding water. The hole of the hole opens under water at a depth of about half a meter. An inclined passage up to 2 meters long leads to the nesting chamber, which is always located above the water level and lined with dry grass, leaves, and moss. From the chamber to the surface of the ground, the otter breaks 1-2 small holes that serve for ventilation. In low-lying areas, where low banks and high groundwater levels do not allow digging suitable burrows, it makes shelters in high creases of reeds or dead wood, in piles of “fin” half-covered with sand or dried silt - trunks and branches of trees washed ashore. In well-protected secluded corners, the otter breeds its cubs, even in ground dens arranged under the eversion.
The otter can be active around the clock, but is most often seen at dusk in the morning and evening. Activity increases noticeably on quiet moonlit nights, and in winter when the weather is mild. During the darkest autumn nights and winter, the predator often fishes during daylight hours, when it is better visible under water. Otters are least willing to leave shelters in strong winds, especially if there is a blizzard or rain.

On land, the otter, moving at a walk, trot or jump, hunches heavily and therefore seems somewhat clumsy. However, a person is unlikely to catch up with a running otter, especially on a sticky bank or snow: the animal can reach speeds of up to 25 km/h. In water, the otter's movements are fast, dexterous and confident. When swimming slowly, it usually paddles with its paws, and when moving quickly, it presses its legs to its body and moves forward with energetic snake-like movements of its entire body and tail. It dives instantly, often with a strong splash, but if necessary, it goes under water completely silently. When in danger, the otter takes in air in a fraction of a second; sometimes to do this, it only needs to stick the tip of its muzzle out of the water. It can stay under water for up to 5 minutes: the path of a diving otter can be traced by the bubbles of air it exhales.

This predator is very secretive and careful, especially on land. Before leaving the water, the animal must inspect itself, and usually cover the places where it goes ashore with fins or branches. Walking around its area, the otter sometimes walks along the shore and sometimes swims. She prefers the waterway, going downstream, and bypasses areas with rifts and rapids on dry ground. Rising along the bank upstream of a winding river, this intelligent animal often takes a shortcut, crossing bends at the narrowest point. The paths of such regular crossings are marked with clearly visible paths along which the otter runs quickly without stopping. Having reached the water, the animal quickly leaves the path, and simply rolls down the steep bank on its belly. The paths trampled by the otter are easy to distinguish from those laid by its neighbors - river beavers: they usually stretch along the shore near the water, and beavers always go perpendicular to the shoreline. Otter tracks on wet coastal soil or on snow are also difficult to confuse with others: the paws leave imprints of the interdigital membranes, and between the double chain of tracks there is a line from the dragging tail.

The otter is very active. Possessing a cheerful disposition, she devotes a lot of time to various kinds of games, especially loves to ride from heights. Both children and adults, having fun, slide down the coastal slope many times and splash into the water. In such places, “roller slides” are formed - slopes smoothly polished by the bodies of animals on steep banks, ranging from 5 to 20 meters in length. On dense snow, from time to time the animal takes a running start and slides on its belly, traveling 2-3 meters, and all 20-30 meters downhill, leaving a characteristic groove behind it. However, sometimes this is not only a game, but also a method of squeezing out fur, which is also characteristic of mink.

The river otter is a typical fish eater. In the Volga delta, it prefers carp, as well as pike; it is easy for the otter to hunt them in the almost stagnant water of countless channels overgrown with reeds. In the northern rivers, the favorite “dish” is char and grayling, which live mainly on the rifts, and the inhabitants of the pools, whitefish and ide, do not come to her table so often. On the Murmansk coast, the predator feeds mainly on cod and brown trout, and on the Kola Peninsula - trout and the same pike. The otter prefers small fish to large ones; in spawning areas it readily catches grown fry. However, one burbot caught by an otter in Pechora weighed 4 kilograms.

The otter's winter food is mainly frogs, which it hardly touches during the ice-free period. So, in the lower reaches of the Volga in winter, these amphibians make up about half of its diet, but in the spring, when frogs are more active and no less accessible, the otter still prefers to hunt fish. With a lack of basic food, the animal eats large mollusks, mainly toothless mollusks. In rivers where there are a lot of crayfish, she happily feeds on these aquatic inhabitants, and in the south of Siberia she picks up caddisfly larvae that swarm there in the summer from the bottom of mountain rivers. Only as an exception does it catch small mammals (water vole, shrew) and birds (ducks, rails) near water.

The main methods of otter hunting for fish are stalking and stalking. On shallow rifts, the predator guards its prey on stones or fallen trees, and sometimes on the shore. An otter and a water rat are watching at its holes. It pursues mainly schooling and not very active fish, which are easier to catch up with. The predator often visits “fish holes” - pools of calm water, in which sedentary fish accumulate for the night. Near these places on the shore there are almost always otter forays. In deep places, it sometimes attacks fish or waterfowl from below, swimming up to it on its back. Underwater, she always grabs prey with her mouth, not with her paws.

An otter normally eats about 1 kilogram of fish per day. When catching small things, it is forced to hunt in several stages, but if it manages to catch large prey, the otter is satisfied until the next night. Having grabbed the fish, the predator usually eats it on the shore or on a stone protruding from the water, in winter - on the edge of the ice hole. As an avid gourmet, she eats only freshly caught prey, does not hide uneaten leftovers and does not return to them. Even the numerous corpses of spawning salmon carried ashore by the current are almost never touched by the otter. That’s why she doesn’t stock up for future use: stories about finding “fish warehouses” allegedly built by an otter are the fruit of idle speculation.

Social structure and reproduction

Sexual maturity in otters occurs in the second or third year of life.

Otter breeding is not confined to a specific season of the year, especially in places with a temperate or warm climate. Thus, in the south of Siberia, hunters found young otter the size of a cat in both July and December. During the rutting period, males, usually silent, emit a peculiar whistle. Intrauterine development is delayed, childbirth occurs 7-8 months after mating. The fertility of this animal is low - most often 2-4 cubs are born. Otters develop quite quickly: they begin to see the light within 9-10 days, and by 10 months they weigh about 4 kilograms. The cubs spend the entire first year of life with the female. She is very attached to the young, in case of danger she protects them, sometimes she even attacks first, including people. One day, a mother with two cubs, caught by fishermen on a boat in a narrow channel, boldly rushed to protect her offspring, so that they had to fight her off with a pole, which she was pretty much bitten by. Only when people left the channel did the female return to the cubs, left in the thick of the flooded bushes.

Baby otters are called pups.

Economic importance

Although in nature the otter avoids humans, in captivity it is easily tamed and is extremely friendly. In southern countries, local residents sometimes use tamed otters to catch fish.
This predator has beautiful, durable and warm fur. Previously, the otter was hunted very intensively, which led to sad consequences for it. For example, in the southern Kuril Islands, hunters completely destroyed the otter. At one time, the otter was also exterminated for the supposed harm allegedly caused to fish farms, although in fact the basis of its diet is the so-called “trash fish”, which is of no particular importance to humans. In recent decades, hunting for it has been limited everywhere. And yet in European countries its number is steadily declining. The otter population is extremely negatively affected by deforestation over large areas and the resulting decrease in river water levels, as well as irrigation work - drainage, flow regulation.

In some areas of Bangladesh, otters are used as hunting animals - they drive fish into fishermen's nets (at the same time, adult individuals are kept on long leather leashes, and young animals swim freely - they still will not swim away from their parents).

Population status and conservation

Hunting and the use of pesticides in agriculture have reduced the number of otters. In 2000, the common otter was listed as a "vulnerable" species on the IUCN Red List.