Otter (Lutra canadensis) - Member of the weasel family. Weigh from 10-30 pounds and grow to 3-4 1/2 feet in length. Has small flattened head, thick neck and tail. Special muscles allow otters to close their ears and nostrils when swimming. Use paws to handle objects. Their toes are webbed. Otters are active year-round. They eat fish, amphibians and reptiles. Otters use a variety of sounds ranging from growls to chirps in order to communicate. Female otters give birth to 2 or 3 pups. They are born blind and do not swim until they are several months old.
MochaMocha came into our lives in May of this year. He was about 2 months
old and could barely see or walk. Since he was so young, he required constant
care; I took him home in a cardboard box. I had to feed him and clean his
box every couple of hours. When his odd-sounding cries awakened me at 3:00
a.m., and I had to clean a new mess, I would think to myself, "It's a dirty
job, but someone has to do it." As with most animals raised by people,
I had to choose a name for him. Since he's a warm, dark brown color, I
thought of coffee. But, "Coffee" didn't seem to be a good name. I then
thought of chocolate-flavored-coffee -- Mocha.
Eventually, Mocha got too active to stay in the cardboard box, and
I brought home a large cage for him. I stopped feeding him baby formula
and canned cat food and began feeding him "shiners" and dry cat food. Every
day became a ritual: Wake up; let Mocha out; clean his cage; put some more
cat litter in it; throw some shiners in the cage and hope he would run
into the cage to get the food. Although otters are nice and playful, I
don't think they want to be handled, especially if they are hungry and
food is involved. I speak from experience, an otter can inflict very painful
bites. When I had to handle Mocha, I'd be sure to put on a pair of leather
work gloves. After spending a few weeks in the cage, Mocha managed to open
the door. When I came into my room, I saw the empty shiner bucket, my soaked
carpet and an otter with a small fish hanging out of his mouth. Needless
to say, I got a lock for his cage.
At night I would put a few shiners in the bathtub and let Mocha
swim after them. After his swimming lessons, I would let him loose in the
house. Those few hours were sheer terror for my dogs! Nobody in the house
could eat or drink anything without fearing that Mocha would jump in his
lap to have a snack too. He learned to jump on the dinner table by jumping
onto a chair then onto the table. So, before I would let Mocha out, my
family would move all food and drinks out of sight; move the dog food dish;
put all of the chairs on the dinner table; and put several layers of newspaper
down in Mocha's corner/restroom. During this time, I would clean and disinfect
the cage and put fresh food and water in it. After I got Mocha back into
the cage, everybody breathed a sigh of relief.
The day came (all too soon) to take Mocha to his new home. I spent
many hours with Mocha in his new pen, but he would never swim. When I wasn't
looking, of course, Mocha took his first swim. I felt like a mother missing
her child's first steps. I thought of my parents and others saying something
like, "You try to raise them right and guide them, but when you turn your
back on them, they do whatever they want." I guess Mocha just decided to
swim, and I happened to have turned my back on him.
Mocha is happy at his new home. Maybe we'll be fortunate enough
to get another otter to be his playmate. Until that day, I'll continue
to play with him. Mocha is greatly missed at my house. Although he was
a lot of trouble, when I see him glide through the water, he looks at me
with his inquisitive eyes, I think it was all worthwhile.
