Otters, which are fluffy and adorable, inhabit all continents except Australia and Antarctica, living in rivers, lakes, and coastal areas. They are born for the aquatic lifestyle with their slender bodies, thick fur, and webbed feet. Their playful behavior has caught our attention, and unfortunately, their prized pelt too. Learn more about these mammals as you read our collection of otter quotes below.
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The 13 species of otters live in various habitats. For example, sea otters feed on marine invertebrates and use tools to open clams as they inhabit ocean coasts. They are often seen floating on their backs even while asleep.
To keep themselves from drifting, they sleep on a bunch of kelp or hold each other. There are also river otters who build burrows near rivers or lakes and swim belly down, unlike sea otters. Since they mostly live in water but have no thick layer of fat to protect them from the cold, their body develop fast metabolism to generate body heat.
Learn more about these mammals in their natural habitat as you read the following otter quotes, or click on to our otter facts for a deeper dive.
"The sea otter may be one of the most widely studied and intensively managed marine mammals."
"Healthy otters tell us we have a healthy countryside."
"Even an otter picks up a rock once in a while to open a clam."
"These little fur balls are very good swimmers and can stay underwater for three to four minutes at a time. Otters are very much like you boys and girls, because they spend most of their time playing."
"Sea otters are coastal, shallow water dwellers."
"Few people actually see the Eurasian otter in the wild, yet it has become one of the most popular species."
"Yet otters have not been hunters in water long enough for the habit to become an instinct."
"The otter is a great wanderer, who not only traverses long stretches of coast and follows streams and rivers to their source, but crosses hills and even mountains to reach its fishing-grounds."
"The more Discovery Channel you watch, the less chance you have of ever meeting a woman. Because it fills your head with odd facts that can come out at any moment. 'Hello. Did you know Hitler was ticklish? That sea otters have four nipples?' Wait - don't run away!"
As mentioned earlier, otters lack a layer of fat. So to keep warm, they also depend on their dense fur, which has between 600,000 to 1,000,000 hair follicles per square inch to trap air and heat.
Unfortunately, otter pelts became a valuable item heavily traded from the 1700s to 1800s, resulting in a complete wipeout of the otter population in North America. Thankfully, regulations like International Fur Seal Treaty, U.S. Marine Mammal Protection Act, and the U.S. Marine Mammal Protection Act have helped revive the otter population.
Today, out of the thirteen species, IUCN only categorized one as a least concerned specie. So let's be part of the solution of keeping these mammals alive for many generations after reading the eye-opening otter quotes below.
"Consequently, sea otter spend much of their time cleaning and grooming their fur."
"Sea otters have very thick fur. The fur helps keep the otter's body warm and dry in the cold water."
"Sea otter fur ranges from brown to almost black with guard that be silver, light brown, or black. As a sea otter ages, their hands and necks will lighten until almost white."
"Prior to the arrival of the European traders, the sea otter was traditionally prized for its fine fur and its pelt was worn by high-ranking people."
"They counted the dead otter and thought of the beads and other things that each pelt meant. But I never went to the cove and whenever I saw the hunters with their long spears skimming over the water, I was angry, for these animals were my friends. It was fun to see them playing or sunning themselves among the kelp. It more fun than the thought of beads to wear around my neck."
"Sea otters face many challenges because their unique history, biology, and nearshore habitat place them in close proximity to, and often in adverse interactions with, humans."
Scientists define animal play as pure enjoyment and not connected with survival. For example, otters play by sliding, somersaulting, belly-flopping, and wrestling. They love playing so much that an early study even observed a group of otters slide 16 times in less than a minute1. Just like in humans, play is an important activity for the socialization and development of otters.
Cat quotes or videos? It's time to binge-watch cute otters! Search the web for more otter content after reading the rest of our otter quotes below.
"I enjoy watching playful river otters in the pond behind my house. They are always on the move, dipping and diving in the water."
"Otters loved the winter. They liked making angels in the snow. They liked to catch snowflakes on their tongues. Then they liked to make snow bears."
"Otters seem to make slides for fun. They will often slide down a muddy bank into the water, climb out, and do the whole thing again."
"The more 'otter it is, the more 'otter otters likes it"
"Somebody said that writers are like otters... Otters, if they do a trick and you give them a fish, the next time they'll do a better trick or a different trick because they'd already done that one."
| 1 | Sadie S. Stevens and Thomas L. Serfass "Sliding Behavior in Nearctic River Otters: Locomotion or Play?," Northeastern Naturalist 12(2), 241-244, (1 June 2005). |
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