>>3141
Probably, otters are very wise after all, they know many things.

I'd say they are at least vaguely aware.

>tfw don't live in a country with an otter population

If I did I would look into volunteering for a charity. I'm not a vet but shit if someone 200 miles away said they found an otter cub in their garden I could pick it up for the charity.

If I had bigger balls I'd make a career out of hunting down poachers in SEA

>>2759
That makes me think. Are there any remote Otter jobs, for those of us who don't live near otters?

>>2760
Charities sometimes have volunteer openings for work in the media space, where you could work remotely editing content and stuff.

>>2759
I don't even know how one can go the poacher hunting route
how do you even get hired

>>3142
You'd have to become a ranger in one of the anti-poaching units in sub-saharan Africa. These guys are mainly focused on protecting rhinos and elephants from poachers in what's known as the Rhino War. You'll go through military-style training to fight poaching gangs and wildlife traffickers, well-funded organized criminals who have access to armored vehicles, helicopters and modern weapons, which they can pay for by smuggling ivory to Asia. You on the other hand will need to make do, you're much more restricted both by laws (can't wear camouflage in some African countries, not allowed to shoot first, etc) and your budget, which means you're getting an AK47 with two magazines. Then they send you to the African jungle where you'll patrol for several days, sleeping in a hammock and surviving off bugs on the floor.

You can join them as a volunteer, but you usually need to be at least a permanent resident of the country where they operate or else they can't give you a gun. Pic is from one of the better-known ones. I'm not aware of such units existing in the SEA region, though it would be great if we could intervene against otter poaching. Imagine if the poachers came to get the baby otters but got a bloody nose instead. Don't know what needs to happen for that to be possible, but I'm sure it is.

Masters of Bush, River, Sea, Art AND trees? Are ottes OP?

>>2912
Sometimes it seems like otters are too powerful, but in truth, they can do what they can do because they've got to do what they've got to do.

>>2912
They're also expert musicians!

>>2913
Otts've gotta ott

>>2912 That otter is making some nice abstract impressionist art.

>>2920
I bet otter art would be really valuable. They should put it up in art museums to show what true artistry is

>>2149
This is like stuff straight from my nightmares.

>>2185
How could you have a nightmare about an otter? That is just utterly ridiculous

>>2185
How could you hate this face?

(pic is from Longleat park)

>>1870
I’d love to watch some sort of movie where a bunch of different types of otters come together to help each other out

>>3059
Someone should write a new Redwall book about different otter tribes banding together.

Excellent question, and not easy to answer. I think it's the elegance and sublimity of everything they do, combined with their relaxed, curious attitude. Otters are animals that are at peace with themselves and their surroundings while at the same time dying to learn more about everything.

As has been said, this is difficult to answer exactly. Of course otters are cute, which was an initial reason for my interest in them, but as I've grown to understand more about them, the importance that they have on their ecosystem has a beauty in and of itself. And the ease that they display within their ecosystem has such a natural beauty to it. And otter never tries harder than he has to, and always has time for play and fun

>>3049
I'm fond of how sleek they look

I love their adorable faces

I also just love the way they are formed

The hike

A bat lives in this house

>>3031
I couldn't agree more. You come with a frown and leave with a smile. It feels like together we can actually get something done for otters.

The early bird payment deadline is this sunday, register and pay now to get the reduced fee!
Register here
Pay here

Two weeks...!

>>2956 Time goes fast

And now it's only one week

Official program is out.

>>2875 looks like you already do

Something's going on here guys, I think we better be careful
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/aug/19/seal-breaks-into-new-zealand-home-traumatises-cat-and-hangs-out-on-couch

>>2923
I saw this and immediately thought of this thread! Good to see I wasn't alone.

Otties are always welcome guests in my house though I'm not sure if they'll be as nicely received everywhere

>>2930
Hopefully that'll just serve to drive otters where they'd be truly appreciated

Here's a video of her, she was a big clapper.

RIP Betty
Hope they can find out what happened

Unfortunately, sometimes otters just pass. It happens to people too; I had a friend who died at 18 of an diagnosed heart condition with no symptoms at all, she just didn't wake up one day. I do hope it's something like that rather than foul play, it takes a special kind of mean to be mean to an otter.

>>2844
That's really sad, hope you got through that alright
When your time's up there doesn't need to be a rational cause I suppose

There don't seem to be any news... But they have a four month old sea otter pup they recently rescued, still nameless

>>2842
That's just how those cheeky otters are, they can sense when someone's after them. Animals have all kinds of senses that science can't explain, they often seemingly know things they shouldn't.

>>2842 I still hope you'll get to see them btw

>>2842
I had a thought. How about we all go to Scotland to watch otters together?
Something like this https://www.otter.org/Public/Events_OtterWatchingDays.aspx seems like a great meetup occasion to me.

>>2858
That sounds pretty cool
The tick warning has me spooked though. Forgot how tick and midge ridden Scotland is

Something for UK otter friends
https://www.mammal.org.uk/national-otter-survey/

She smashes sea shells by the sea shore.

>>32
Living a better life than most people.

Nighttime sea otter

\o/

>>28
No, when people saw weasels in the sea they just though FUR, and pretty soon sea weasels were hunted to extinction.

>>2647 I couldn't imagine a better place to sleep

>>2468 wish I could experience such comfyness

>>2690
Otters are already comfy, but then their comfiness is multiplied by the presence of other otters

>>2827
This creates a feedback loop of comfiness where each otter makes the other otter even more comfy, thus resulting in perfect otter sleeps

here's a pic of the small clawed otters at Denver Zoo demonstrating this phenomenon

>>2829 Of course otters putting their heads on each other is also a sign of affection, which is cute.

It's a thing of beauty, nature is like a puzzle, every piece fits perfectly

One of the key things that I just recently realized is how terrestrial predators only need to move in a two dimensional space, whereas an otter hunting a fish has to move in a three dimensional body. There's a whole new dimension introduced to the game. Diving takes a lot of practice and skill in itself, but then imagine also keeping track of a fast moving fish that's doing its best to get away from you. AND to top it off being fast and nimble enough to catch it, all while you're a land animal who hated the water before being taught to swim. Otters really are the kings of the water and the kings of hunting.

>>1209
Of course! Everyone knows getting muddy is a cleansing spa treatment. Otter spa is always enjoyable.

>>1213

>Otter spa

Is that a spa for otters, or a spa with otters?

>>1348
A spa of otters, by otters, for otters.

>>1349
The best kind.

>>1200
>>1202
>>1203
Glad we get to see different angles of what happens when an otter sticks his nose in a puddle of mud

Depends on what they're doing... I hope they don't think too much, too many thoughts are stressful.

I think otters think about having fun, eatin clams, maybe how neat their favorite rock is. I wonder if they think about how neat they are?

>>2787 Maybe they know how amazing they are, or maybe they don't? I just hope otters feel good about being otters.

>>2789
They have the piece of mind knowing they are doing the best otting they can.

Just got word they've decided on a logo, so there'll be no need for these. I'll post them anyway just because I like them.

>>2295

>>2296 Similar logo to this one >>2295 but more abstract and geometric, formed by the letters I O C. Typeface: Futura.

Official announcement and tentative program are out

>>2739 A lot of otter topics to be covered

Love you too!

Wish more otter lovers could find their way here. I've written up a little piece about Otterchat for IUCN news, but I don't know if it's good or not. What do you guys think, would you change anything?

>>2723
I think it's good to go! Hopefully it'll attract some new otternons to join this great community!

>>2724 I hope so too, I'll probably go ahead and submit it around the weekend.

>>2675
yes ;-;

>>2677
For future reference, in case you didn't know, you have to either enter the thread by hitting the reply button or by clicking the numbers of the post to enter the reply posting mode

>>2678
I know, I couldn't read the verification string so I tried to reload the page to get a new one but that didn't work and when I relaunched my browser I forgot to click back into the thread

>>2682
Sorry for the trouble :/ The captcha system is pretty basic, I just changed so it gives you a new string if you type it in wrong. Also is it easy enough to read? Because I can make it bigger if not.

>>2685
No trouble, it's definitely a me problem so no need to change anything of my accord! It's already far more visible than the ones on Anon Cafe which I regularly have to reload to get one that is legible for me. The generation of a new string after failure is a nice touch though, makes it a bit easier if you get a difficult to read captcha. Thanks Ottmin!

I feel like, with how modern life is going, conservation is always going to be a necessary thing. Unfortunately, I don't think that modern industry and existence will allow otters, or most animals for that matter, to return to their previous existences, and conservation is going to need to exist to protect otters from evil men in top hats

>>2517
Yep. Otters are still being poisoned to this day. As they once were almost driven to extinction by pesticides, now rodenticides in the water are literally causing otters to bleed to death internally.
https://archive.ph/9QsMG

The political and legislative efforts to combat pollution have evidently only succeeded in somewhat mitigating and reducing the effects, and never to address the cause. Reform can never be a solution to the suffering industrial society has imposed on the planet. It has pumped the water, ground and air full of chemicals, metals, plastics, radiation, carcinogens, genetic manipulation, and every dark and wicked concoction thought up in the depths of the laboratories that serve the vain economic interests of man. We don't even realize the full extent of the consequences this system is having yet. Plants and animals are now feeling the full force of it, but in the end it will end up in our food, our own bodies. Yes, humans have plastic in our blood now too.
The law doesn't make a difference, notice how the deadly poisoning of the earth has not stopped, it only continues in countries where regulation isn't as strict. Just look up where the most polluted rivers are today. Where regulation is stricter it finds ever new ways to manifest itself that can only be retroactively addressed when the damage is already done.
Is there any escape? Is there even any way that the next 100 years can pass by without worldwide catastrophe the extent of which we have never imagined?

Male otters have moustaches. Every time I learn something new about otters they just keep getting better.

Love the way otter fur looks

I tried something else. How's this?

>>2598
The inline style makes it look more like a banner than a logo, but it does look good.

>>2589
Yes! it looks sharper, if that makes sense. More defined.

I like this.

I made a banner with that Giant Otter video anon posted here a while ago.

>>2600
I don't know where to put the otter relative to the text, but having an outline around the speech bubble also looks quite alright in my opinion.

I'm imagining otters with fur thick enough to work as a space suit

>>2607
They can trap air under the outer layer of fur, so in theory it could work.

>>2617
It would need to be a hairy nosed otter so he can breathe the air under his nose hairs

Like a blazing torch go forth
Oh otter spotter volunteers
Go where no one else will go
See what no one else can see

The queen of rivers has returned
The page has turned and spring appeared
Her home is graced by silent tread
Her kingdom welcomes her again

Be the bearer of good news
Be the light that lights our hearts
For you no water is to deep
For you no riverbank to steep

Be as an otter
Unheard, unseen
Be as an otter
Swim up the stream
Be as an otter
Just for a day
Be as an otter
Enjoy the play
Be as an otter
Enjoy the fun
Be as an otter
Never outdone
Be as an otter
Sharp claws and teeth
Be as an otter

Comment too long. Click here to view the full text.

Mustelid, animal of such beauty
Diving, entry into the water
The fish swims away, hopelessly
Trying to preserve its life
Alas, a useless goal
Ripping and tearing
The otter hunts
Comes to land
Lies down
Eats

We're coming home
coming home
coming home to otter lands
where we once throned
we once throned
we once throned and tasted clams

We advance
we advance
we advance with every step
and build our holts
build our holts
build or holts like architects

What we gained

Comment too long. Click here to view the full text.

otters in my head, otters on my mind
otters every day and otters every night
otters at the office, otters in the car
otters in the home, otters near and far
otters when I sleep, otters when I eat
otters when I cook and otters when I clean
otters in the morning, otters before bed
otters in my attic and otters in my shed

>>2219
I imagine that it would be hard to get any breeding programs going for those otters whose noses are hairier than average without at least two in captivity. That being said, there are probably attempts to get some program of that sort started

>>2221 Not sure how recent that information is. Maybe there are more otters with a bit of hair on their nose in captivity now.

Page for genus Lutra is up.
https://otterwiki.net/wiki/Lutra
Hoping to complete these species' articles soon.

https://otterwiki.net/wiki/Japanese_Otter
Started the Japanese otter page!
What surprised me about this is that the last sighting was in 1979, but apparently they found spraint in 1999 so they're still looking for it, despite it officially being declared extinct. Sightings were also super rare before that, so we still aren't giving up.

>>2572 Still need to expand sections on distribution, habitat and behavior btw.

Otters live in loving families, they care for each other more than we do I'd even say.

If you really want to see some loving otts, just look at sea otter mothers and pups

>>2482
So true! There's no love like mother's love.

Otter mums are the best! Maybe that's why otters are so amazing, because they have such wonderful parents.

Otters' love is unconditional