River Otters in Graham Creek

We know there are river otters in Graham Creek and throughout the Gulf Coast. But who are these creatures, and why have you not seen one?

Like many of the animals in the estuarial system, river otters are primarily nocturnal. They are agile, fast, graceful, playful creatures. Once in a long while, they can be spotted during the day — and boy is that a treat!

Swimming

River otters are semi-aquatic. While they spend much of their time in the water, they live in dens alongside the water. Unlike sea otters, who float on their backs and crack open urchins, river otters swim with their bellies down, with most of their bodies below the surface. So if you see one swimming, it’ll just be a nose with a v-shaped wake trailing behind.

River otters vary from 11 and 30 pounds. Females tend to be smaller than males. They are cylindrical and 3 to 5 feet long. This streamlined shape allows them to glide gracefully in the water.

They live in dens with other otters. A den can be made from a hollow log, a big pile of branches or abandoned gopher tortoise holes. Dens are always well hidden and close to the water’s edge.

Eating

River otters eat mostly aquatic organisms like fish (mostly non-game fish), crabs, crayfish, snails, mussels and small turtles. They’ll also come from below to snag a duck or two. They have a fast metabolism, so they eat a lot and seem forever hungry. They are very strong, and can dive up to 60 feet deep (not that they would have to in our shallow waters). They’ve been known to rip crab traps apart to eat what’s inside.

They are well adapted to murky inshore waters, with long whiskers to detect prey in low visibility. They have a nictitating membrane (from Latin nictare, to blink) which is a transparent or translucent third eyelid that can be drawn across the eye from the medial canthus for protection and to moisten it while maintaining vision. Vision outside the water is limited to a few feet, but their senses of smell and hearing are quite acute.