Otter ablutions

I am beginning to think that our local River Otters appreciate docks. Just as most of our ospreys now prefer dolphins and pilings over trees for their nests, our otters seem to prefer docks over rocks and beaches for grooming.

All this became increasingly clear as I watched a female otter groom on a dock. The dock is cleaner than a beach, more comfortable than a rock, and provided readier access to the water used for cleaning. Indeed, of two adjacent docks, she picked the lower one so as to more easily dip her head over the edge and get a mouthful of cleansing water. She seems to have found the dock ideal for her ablutions.

Normally, a visiting otter comes and goes from a dock within five minutes. This lassie stuck around for a half hour as she repeatedly took mouthfuls of water and used it along with her teeth to groom her fur. The shiny patch on her hip is still wet from a cleaning (next picture). Constantly busy, this is one of the few times she looked around.

The otter cleans her hip by dumping water on it and combing it with her teeth.

It was fascinating to watch her quality control. She is inspecting her paw after having cleaned it with her mouth. On this occasion, the paw failed inspection and she went after it again, inspected it again and finding it now satisfactory, went on to clean elsewhere.

The cleaning of the head has to be done by the paws. One suspects that this also involved the satisfaction of a good scratch.

Otters also use docks for eating, defecation and play, but it seems that man’s lakeside modifications contribute most to an otter’s hygiene.