River otter

River otter refers to several species of aquatic mustelids within the genera Lutra, Lontra and Pteronura, which mainly inhabit rivers and other freshwater locations. This distinguishes them from the sea otter and marine otter which are true marine mammals.

Specific types of river otter include:

References

River Otter

The River Otter rises in the Blackdown Hills just inside the county of Somerset, England near Otterford, then flows south for some 32 km through East Devon to the English Channel at the western end of Lyme Bay, part of the Jurassic Coast, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Permian and Triassic sandstone aquifer in the Otter Valley is one of Devon's largest groundwater sources, supplying drinking water to 200,000 people.

Topography

The river's source is north of Otterford, where a stream feeds the Otterhead Lakes: ST225152 and then through Churchstanton before entering Devon.

The river flows through a predominantly rural area, with small cattle, sheep and dairy farms. The largest town in the Otter Valley is Honiton. Tourism and leisure play important roles in the economy; hundreds of private cottages and farms offer B&B and rented holiday accommodation. For much of its length, the river flows through one or other Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty – The Blackdown Hills AONB (to the north of Honiton) and East Devon AONB (to the south of Ottery St Mary).

Otter

Otter is a common name for a carnivorous mammal in the subfamily Lutrinae. The 13 extant otter species are all semiaquatic, aquatic or marine, with diets based on fish and invertebrates. Lutrinae is a branch of the weasel family Mustelidae, which also includes badgers, honey badgers, martens, minks, polecats, weasels and wolverines.

Etymology

The word otter derives from the Old English word otor or oter. This, and cognate words in other Indo-European languages, ultimately stem from the Proto-Indo-European language root *wódr̥, which also gave rise to the English word "water".

Terminology

An otter's den is called a holt or couch. Male otters are called dogs or boars, females are called bitches or sows, and their offspring are called pups. The collective nouns for otters are bevy, family, lodge, romp (being descriptive of their often playful nature) or, when in water, raft.

The feces of otters are typically identified by their distinctive aroma, the smell of which has been described as ranging from freshly mown hay to putrefied fish; these are known as spraints.