North American River Otter

RIVER ROYALTY

Diet

• Diverse diet since they are found in many different habitats throughout our state

• Eats fish, but also a wide variety of crustaceans, bivalves, small mammals and reptiles, and even birds

Agility

• Very proficient swimmers and can glide through the water making sharp turns to catch fish

• Speed on land can get up to ~15 mph and they can swim even faster

Defense Mechanisms

• Very sharp teeth that can be used to crack open things like clam shells

• Communicate using various sounds to warn each other about predators 

Superpower

• Have ~156,000 hairs per square inch on their body which means they can handle colder water temperatures

• Can hold their breath for ~4 minutes underwater