Otter or Mink?

One afternoon in the fall, I watched two otters fishing in a beaver pond and then I thought they went into a nearby beaver lodge. I noticed that one of the otters left a bullhead fish on the bank across the pond where they often roll around and poop. So I walked around to see what shape the fish was in.

Not good. Then as I was kneeling down studying that, I saw the two otters heading right for me, no doubt, to get that fish. Then they saw me, dove and swam off under water, got near the beaver lodge where they denned and popped up to take a look at me.

In the Middle Ages otters were sometimes categorized as fish, and I can understand a Medieval scholar saying to himself, "here's a four legged critter who likes to eat fish, but unlike a cat, raccoon or bear, it actually swims after the fish! Big fish swim after little fish and eat them, so... an otter is best described as a fish!" And there's something to be said for calling an otter a fish. You almost always find them in or right near water. They almost always disappear into the water, sometimes they fly out of it, just like a fish,

The German word for otter is "fischotter" which is a much more sensible name than "river otter." You can find many an otter not in a river. I usually see them in beaver ponds, and they are found fishing well out in the ocean, anywhere there are fish.

Three other mammals, the mink, beaver, and muskrat, are often seen swimming in ponds and rivers, and all three are often mistaken for otters. Beavers and muskrats have no interest in fish. You won't find them out in the ocean. Minks do eat fish, and up where I live on the St. Lawrence River many people mistake minks, which are much more common here, for otters. Minks are mush smaller, never more than half the size of an otter, 21 inches compared to 43 inches on average, but seen from a boat, or through binoculars, and having no otter around to stand still for comparison.... In the video below, an animal swims along the shore of a bay like an adept hunter of fish, with a lithe body and long tail.

But it's a mink. Even with a fish in its mouth, a mink looks like a mink, not an otter.

Minks eat a lot of things other than fish; whatever might be missing, chickens, snakes, goslings, ducklings, minks are prime suspects. Minks can get into anything. They have rather small heads

and they are prone to stay on shore when they see you, maybe duck under a dock or between rocks, or into a hole, while an otter almost always goes into the water and turns into a fish. Minks also have a bushy tail when its dry, I bet that makes a tail much better for balance and speed when running on land.

and the otter's tail is never bushy. Minks also generally take their catch back to their den, which is what the mink pictured above with the fish did, scurrying along the shore to a dam 50 yards away. An otter usually gets right to work eating a fish. In the video below you can see how it brings a fish up on the ice, eats it, dives down to catch another fish, brings it up and eats it, a real fish eating machine, though more beautiful and elegant than any machine!

Another reason why I think people mistake minks for otters is that minks can look rather playful. Take a look at the video below showing a mink on the ice. Not like that fish devouring otter. The mink romps on the ice in the early spring like it's having fun

Yes, otters play, but generally when they are out of the water, they're busy finding a place to poop. I've never seen a mink poop. Otters make a big production out of it. You'll three tail waving poops in the video below and a good bit of sniffing about. Then the otter gets under the ice for breakfast.

Now let me share a video clip of an animal I first thought was a mink or muskrat, and then as I studied it, I realized that it was a mink -- the big, spade shaped tail that I could see when I made the video brighter convinced me that it was an otter.