Once you’ve seen these tracks a few times, you will recognize them next time you come across them. Then, maybe if you spend enough time outside exploring, maybe one day you’ll be lucky enough to get to watch the animal making them– a river otter!
River otters weigh about 30 pounds and measure 3 to 4 feet in length, counting their tail, which is sleek and muscular.
If you’ve ever seen them move, they look like some kind of molten liquid, moving gracefully across the snow, or, in the water.
They spend much of their time in water but are just as comfortable moving across land, or ice. In winter along rivers, especially in the northeast where temperatures are cold enough for the bodies of water to freeze, it is common to see river otter tracks. And if you look enough you will probably see them sliding along in the snow like a child in a sled. They do seem to love to play! I featured the otter slide in puzzler #40–which was a LONG time ago!
Know what otters eat? Or how they survive winter and frigid temperatures without freezing to death? How about what’s unique about their digestive system? Know how long they can hold their breath? (Hint: It’s a lot longer than you, I bet!) You can check out another post I wrote called The Playful River Otter, featuring some amazing facts about this really cool animal.
Ready to test your tracking skills one more time? Let’s do another one–this one from a very different animal than an otter.