in the water. To see underwater, their eyes have developed a
protective lens that makes them a bit near-sighted, so they
often swim right up to a boat to see what it is all about.
A river otter has a very appealing face—a big button
nose, long whiskers, round eyes, and little ears. They have
the reputation of being very playful. Observers enjoy their
frenetic activity, watching them run, swim, and slide with
abandon. They have a notably high metabolism, so they
eat frequently. Females actually will catch and release fish
near their offspring to train the young ones to fish on their
own. An adult female will swim with a pup on her back to
teach it to swim. Of course, rather than being playful, this
may simply be the effort of a tired mother attempting to get
rowdy teenagers to move out of the house (or den, as it were).
Interestingly, a group of river otters is often referred to as a
“romp,” perhaps a fitting description of a collection of these
active, little mammals. NK
Otter photos by Shauneen Hutchinson;
background photo by Sylvia Bacon
This species has extremely thick waterproof fur (densest
of any mammal with up to 850,000 hairs per square inch), a
fact that at one time made them vulnerable as targets for fur
trappers. Today they are found throughout almost all of North
America, and, in fact, they are being re-introduced into areas
in the Rocky Mountain region where their population had
dwindled during the past century. The river otter population in
South Carolina is stable, and some of our otters are relocated
to West Virginia and Tennessee to restock those areas. They
are drawn to places where the food supply is abundant and the
water quality is high, so the fact that they live on Kiawah is a
great indicator of the health of the Island’s habitats.
Fish is the main staple of a river otter’s diet, but they also
consume a wide variety of marine wildlife and even small
mammals like rabbits. They are prey to bobcats, coyotes,
and alligators. They have long, stiff whiskers that are used
to detect moving prey and help them avoid hitting obstacles
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