Perspectives on Eurasian Otter Awareness by Louloute

Put on your humor hats for this post! It details the perspectives of a stuffed otter on creating awareness for her species, Eurasian otters.  Enjoy everyone! 

Humorously submitted by Louloute Otter

Hi there everyone,
My name is Louloute Otter and my first name shows you that I am a French Eurasian otter: this sounds a bit odd, I know. It’s because I’m a stuffed and cuddly otter. So, Béatrice , my keeper called me Louloute. “Loutre” means “otter” in French and you give the nickname “Louloute” to the girl of the family when you want to show her that you love her. So did Béatrice with me: everyone knows now that I’m a beloved stuffed otter pet! Squeak!

Since I live with a nice keeper, Béatrice, I’m a very clever otter who came along with her and traveled around the world. The Eurasian otter awareness week by Otter News was a great event for me as it helped me to know much about the life of my wild fellows and their antics, as well as their threats that I’m protected from. I learned from their experience that they told to ON. Now, I can take the word on behalf of Eurasian otters and speak to humans who don’t know what a Eurasian otter looks like.  This is because my fellows who live in the woods are so shy due to the historical hunting of Eurasian otters, which causes them to hide immediately when they hear or smell humans. I don’t fear humans because my keeper is always with me and translates. And I guessed that the humans are mostly harmless: they only want always to touch our fur or pull our whiskers. Even if the adults keep imagining we’re a nuisance, the worst that may happen is that they suspect we steal or traumatize their fish in their ponds in the night.

Stuffed otters have great management skills as we are there to train humans to recognize an otter and become aware if they meet one. I’m used to saying now, when I am out with Béatrice in the streets or in the public transports: “No, we don’t build dams, we work in conjunction with the species that does. We are predators, not rodents! Building dams holds no interest for us - we use tree trunks as floating toys. We have a thin tail that helps for hydrodynamics and as a rudder when we’re swimming and diving! Beavers have a large and flat tail, and I must say as an otter myself, they’re much more awkward than us, especially on icy soil in winter. We slide and play so well on snow and ice! We’re curious and we love to experience and have great fun with our surroundings. We love searching for food almost everywhere and we enjoy showing the evidence that we’re really clever since we’re are among the few mammals that use tools. We’re very good at opening wired fences and everything that could be crocheted into a blanket (shhh - don’t tell my keeper!).  We’re very proud of being so multitalented. So, remember, my dear Eurasian otter friends, to avoid confusion, look at me and my stuffed pals as an example: we have a long tail, little round ears, which we can close if we hear something we don’t like, whistling to myself, “I’m an otter ! He ! He ! and everyone should know who I am!”

This means I choose my friends!   So, don’t make my keeper a beaver gift because you know she loves otters!  I might consider this a personal offense and bite you instantly! He! he! Don’t call me a beaver (even Justin ! He! He! Otters love silly puns) nor mink, nor polecat!! Don’t squeeze your nose either because otters don’t stink!!

And….I want to write a letter to eBay telling them that they should attempt to know the difference between a river otter and a sea otter!!  What makes me and my keeper laugh are the strange offers we stumble upon when we try to rescue fellow stuffed otters from the internet and those otters are described as “seal, otter, ferret,  animal, ?”.  Béatrice always enjoys the “?” and teases me, hiding her fingers so that I can’t bite them and we wrestle together.  I’ll show her that I’m not a “?” I’ll yell loudly - “I am an otter”!  We find it even funnier when eBay discovers a new species; like a few months ago “the rough haired otter”!  I’ll send him them a message with my business card identifying me as “Louloute,” Eurasian otter from Paris, France.  I might even ask them to send a bit of the money earned from eBay to the IOSF [International Otter Survival Fund] so that more people will know what a Eurasian otter looks like!
 
What we stuffed otters must do now is to petition stuffed toy makers to make us look like otters!  We can elect the cutest otter of the year and get a badge with the inscription: “I’m not a beaver. I am an otter!!”  Get out there, my fellow stuffed otters, and show off your beauty!

Much love and Eurasian otter awareness from MEEE! Louloute, the Eurasian Otter!
BOUNCE…..!!!....SPLASH!!!!
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All photos published here © Louloute's keeper, Béatrice.

 

Cape Clawless Otter Status and Distribution

(Otter News extends full photo credit to John Wright - 2008)
 

The Cape Clawless otter, also known as the African Clawless otter or Groot otter, is one of three species of otter inhabiting Africa south of the Sahara. It is only absent in the Congo basin; see maps below detailing its range.   According to the IUCN Red List, it is the “most widely distributed otter species in Africa” and classified as one of Least Concern (2008).

 
These otters do not have significant threats to survival; however, as with many otter species, habitat decline and loss is a factor in certain areas as well as being considered by fishermen as potential competition for food source and their livelihood.

 

The official taxonomic listing is: Kingdom: Animalia; Phylum: Chordata; Subphylum: Vertebrata; Class: Mammalia; Order: Carnivora, Family: Mustelidae; Genus: Aonyx; Species: Capensis.

Otter News extends full credit to www.africaguide.com 

Otter News extends full credit to C.F. Mason & S.M. MacDonald for this distribution map