Carolyn Blaydes, age 9, of Shreveport,, La.., for her question:
What is an otter like?
Mr. Otter is a furry mammal and he belongs to the best dressed family in the animal world. He is cousin to the mink, the sable, the marten and the snow white ermines In fact, he looks rather like a large mink, three feet long plus twelve inches of furry tail. However, his face is much prettier and his back feet are webbed for swimming.
When it comes t o swimming, the otter is a champ. All his time is spent in or near the water and he can swim faster than many fish. He can dive, twist, turn and do all kinds of underwater acrobatics. All this he does with great glee, for the otter is one of the most playful animals in the world.
Play never stops, whether he is on land or in the water catching himself a fish dinner. He has a favorite shore game which he loves to flay with his friends and relatives. The furry party finds a steep stream bank and gets set for a gay old time of slide and plunk. Each otter begins his slide at the top of the muddy elope. He slides merrily down on his fat furry tummy and plunks into the water. Then out he scrambles t o watch the next otter slide and plunk. The water from their thick wet coats keeps the slide slippery. The fun may go on for hours with yaps and barks and merry chortles. In the winter, the otters play this joyful game on a snow bank.
All the fun stops, however, when the happy party hears your footsteps. For otters are very shy of people, and for good reason. That' have been hunted for their thick, brown furry coats. If you are lucky, you may see a pretty otter face peeping at you out of the water. He has a round furry face with a set of,sassy white whiskers. His bright eyes era intelligent and inquisitive and he looks at you with a cute kittenish expression.
As so as he has had a good look at you, he pops under water and disappears from view.
This fellow is the river otter, found in fresh water streams and rivers. He has a sea going cousin who is somewhat larger, though dust as cute. The sea otter never comes ashore. He lives on fishy clams and sea shells which he cracks open with a stone. He eats floating on his back, using his fat tummy as a table. Sea otter kittens era born on a floating bed of seaweed and the mother is one of the most loving parents in the world.
The river otter builds a burrow near his favorite stream. The front door is under water. It leads to a tunnel which swoops up above the water level. Inside there is a cozy nests lined with leaves and mosses. Another tunnel, to let in the air, leads to a back door carefully hidden in some nearby bushes.
Baby otters are helpless kittens and do not open their eyes for a month. Later, their loving mother takes them out to see their stream. At first, she swims around with a baby sitting on her back. After a few such trips, she teaches him a hard lesson. Suddenly she divas, leaving Junior to flounder in the shallow water. Chances are, he uses his webbed back feat to swim. In any case, Mamma is right there to help him until ha can do all the proper otter water tricks.