Otter: Nature's kicksledder

[David Dermott]

While kayaking on Gaspereau Lake (Nova Scotia 45 N 64.5 W) a few days
ago, I saw 3 otters on a rock, eating a fish. This made me think of the
otter tracks I've seen on the ice at the same place.

Otters have short, but powerful, legs. When
they are travelling on ice with just a light snow cover,
they will often kick-off and take long glides on their bellies-
not unlike kicksledding! I have seen parallel tracks, so
they must also do this as a group activity. But I've
never seen them in action.
Photo at :
http://www.flickr.com/photos/8904576@N06/2876936139/

This is the Canadian species, LONTRA CANADENSIS, but
I have also seen photos of the European otter, LUTRA LUTRA,
doing the same thing, for example from Sweden:
http://www.skridsko.net/skridskonet/bild/bild-v.asp?id=24979

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David Dermott , Wolfville Ridge, Nova Scotia, Canada
WWW pages: http://www.dermott.ca/index.html