They are very smart animals. That video shows how smart they are. Most people would think wild critters wouldn't want anything to do with a big snapping turtle.
Instead that otter stayed out of snapping range, came in from the back and went under and flipped the snapper on his back and it was all over.
Reminded me of watching a mongoose kill a big cobra. The difference in intelligence from a reptile brain and a warm blooded mammal brain.
Posted by: Jimbo Posted on: Aug 8th, 2023 at 12:22pm
Back in the mid 1990s, my buddy & I rounded the bend on Yeh Lake and watched maybe a dozen or so otters (young & old) slip-sliding & frolicking on the shield rock at the edge of the lake. They were so engrossed, it was maybe 10-15 seconds before they noticed us. When they did, they all scrambled for the water. Then, I'd say half of them started "circling" our canoe. A couple of the larger ones even "barked" at us. Properly scolded, we elected to paddle on.
That was one of my stranger animal encounters in the North Woods. Very interesting critters.
Jimbo
Posted by: Magicpaddler Posted on: Aug 8th, 2023 at 11:22am
PD What we saw were not river otter. River otters are a much bigger animal. I ran on to a family of river otters on Allan Creek one time. More brazen than the ones we saw. I raised my paddle over them to keep them away from my canoe.
Posted by: portage dog Posted on: Aug 6th, 2023 at 2:20pm
We ran across some curious otters on day 1 on our 17-27 July trip on the lily pad choked creek running north out of Sunday Bay up to South Lake. We left there with zero injuries, a couple pics and memories of a cool experience. There were no 'hold my beer' moments. Of course, we didn't have any beer......
pd
Posted by: Jimbo Posted on: Aug 5th, 2023 at 1:01pm