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The Eurasian otter is the most widely distributed otter species, its range including parts of Asia and northern Africa, as well as being spread across Europe, south to Palestine. Though currently thought to be extinct in Liechtenstein and Switzerland , it is now common in Latvia , along the coast of Norway , in the western regions of Spain and ...
Several otter species live in cold waters and have high metabolic rates to help keep them warm. Eurasian otters must eat 15% of their body weight each day, and sea otters 20 to 25%, depending on the temperature. In water as warm as 10 °C (50 °F), an otter needs to catch 100 g (3.5 oz) of fish per hour to survive.
However, during the winter and in colder environments, fish consumption is significantly lower and the otters use other resources for their food supply. Their diets can consist of amphibians (mainly frogs and pond turtles), bird predation (mainly anserine species), small rodents , and invertebrates such as water beetles, snails, and crayfish.
Mink and river otters are crepuscular and nocturnal predators with varied diets. Fish, frogs, crayfish, snakes, turtles, birds, and bird’s eggs are included in the diets of both mammals.
North American river otters, like most predators, prey upon the most readily accessible species. Fish is a favored food among the otters, but they also consume various amphibians (such as salamanders and frogs [3]), freshwater clams, mussels, snails, small turtles and crayfish. The most common fish consumed are perch, suckers, and catfish. [4]
Sea otters in California reach 50 to 70 pounds, while those in Alaska can weigh up to 100 pounds. In contrast to river otters , sea otters must survive amid the chilly waters of the Pacific Ocean.
The giant otter has a handful of other names. In Brazil it is known as ariranha, from the Tupi word arerãîa, or onça-d'água, meaning water jaguar. [6] In Spanish, river wolf (Spanish: lobo de río) and water dog (Spanish: perro de agua) are used occasionally (though the latter also refers to several different animals) and may have been more common in the reports of explorers in the 19th ...
The family Mustelidae, or mustelids (which also includes badgers, otters, and wolverines), is often referred to as the "weasel family". In the UK, the term "weasel" usually refers to the smallest species , the least weasel ( M. nivalis ), [ 1 ] the smallest carnivoran species.