Baby River Otter gets swimming lesson.

[formercia]

Video shows baby river otter receiving first swimming lessons from mom
Oregon Zoo shares natural event you may or may not regard as cute

April 05, 2013 by Pete Thomas

An interesting fact about river otters is that they have to be given swimming lessons by their mothers, and the process may be regarded as cute but also somewhat harsh. Most people would never witness this natural process in the wilderness, but the Oregon Zoo has uploaded a video showing Tilly, the mother otter who was delivered to the zoo as an orphan, teaching 9-week-old Molalla how to swim. The swimming lessons begin at about the 50-second mark. Enjoy:

This reminded me of an encounter wit a River Otter in an isolated area of Northern California, I was Gold panning at the time and the Otter decided to hang out with me, apparently out of curiosity. The Otter didn't get close enough that I could touch it easily but it stayed within a few feet. Why anyone would hurt one is beyond me.

[Scuba]

1. My dad taught me to swim by taking me out to the middle of the lake and throwing me out of the boat.

The hard part was getting out of the gunny sack.

[KansDem]

2. *rimshot*

Thank you, I'll be here all week!

[irisblue]

4. hence the Scuba?

[polly7]

5. LOL!

I taught my little boy to swim off the boat in the middle of the dam ... I gave him a life-jacket though.

[gordianot]

3. Conservation released Otters into the river adjoining our farm.

They literally cleaned out the fish from the river. You would find huge piles of fish with the fins chewed off. It seems that Otters need to learn to fish. To the ever lasting disgrace of Missouri Conservation the Otters they released had never learned to fish in the wild. Otters moved after they cleaned out the fish, when they came back some in Conservation admitted their mistake encouraged trapping. As for myself I do not mind Otters too much they got rid of tourism on the river even if the river is dead devoid of fish and the pools are stagnant.

[Cooley Hurd]

6. Emmet!

[xtraxritical]

7. It needs to be kicked!

[emmadoggy]

8. I adore otters!

They are one of my favorite animals. Cute video - I did not know this about them.

[1monster]

9. I wouldn't let one get too close... they are wild animals. One came on to the school grounds one

day when many of the students were outside. The otter attacked one of the teachers. Luckily, the otter's teeth closed on the teacher's pants leg and missed getting flesh. He shook off the otter which tried again. He shook it off agan at which time the otter took off.

[formercia]

10. Body Language

I suspect that the Otter was frightened by the screaming kids and other potentially threatening behavior. Wild Animals, especially Predators, are very attuned to scent and Body Language. They can smell your emotional state, be it anger, fear, curiosity or whatever. Etiquette is very important when dealing with wild creatures. Assuming the animal isn't cornered, injured or ill, the likelihood of a hostile encounter is minimal.
I once had a close encounter with a large Male Fisher, an animal that is at the top of the pecking-order in the woods. We made eye contact for what seemed like a long time, he sized me up, decided I wasn't a threat, and continued his journey, passing less than 2 feet away from me like I wasn't even there. It made a strong impression on me. When we made eye contact, it was if he could read my mind. He never raised a hackle, never growled or displayed any aggressive posture. I did the same. It was like two strangers passing on a sidewalk.
The best thing to do is avoid contact, that's what they do in the vast majority of cases.
The two things I fear most is a pack of feral Dogs and a Human with a gun that doesn't know what they're doing.

[Skittles]

11. she's got a rough style of teaching

kinda like, get the f*** in there already!