You Otter Been There

I saw this cool little otter in Georgia at the Okefenokee Swamp Park. I guess otters are native to the swamp, but I didn't see any other than this one they had in a pen. We've got otters here in Florida, too, but it's been many years since I've seen one in the wild. I guess they stay as far from people as possible. I've seen them in captivity, though, and they're a delight to watch.

Unfortunately, this guy didn't seem too happy. He ha a fair sized enclosure, but he was all alone. Otters seem to enjoy playing together, so keeping one alone is a shame. The two times I wandered by his pen, he was laying there on his rock, all stretched out, sleeping his day away. He came around once to see if we had any food, but then he went back to sleeping.

Shhhhhh, otter trying to sleep!

Get Otter Here!

I mentioned below a trip to the Clearwater Marine Aquarium, and here's a shot from that trip. The curious fellow above is a river otter. These guys are a rare sight in the wild, but they do exist. I've seen them on the Rainbow River before. But to be able to observe them in their habitat at the aquarium was fascinating. They swam back and forth, back and forth, back and forth, but they were swimming one way on their bellies, then they'd go back the other way on their backs. You could tell they were having more fun than animals in captivity ought to be having. And they seemed to get a kick out of people watching. They'd watch as tourists would walk by, not in a nervous way, but in a way that made them seem about as curious about us as we were about them.