Characteristics: The otter is the largest member of the weasel family found in Missouri, sometimes weighing 25 to 30 pounds. Males are larger than females, and can reach 40 to 55 inches in length, of which one-third is tail. Like others in this group, the otter stands low to the ground, measuring seven to nine inches at the shoulder.
The fur is short and dense, and is dark brown or even blackish, and lighter underneath. The otter uses its webbed hind feet and muscular tail for swimming, and is an effective aquatic predator.
RIVER OTTER
RIVER OTTER
I take that life if I can, with regret as well as joy, and with the sure knowledge that nature’s ways of fang and claw or exposure and starvation are a far crueler fate than I bestow. – Fred Bear