The Otter
The otter's Irish name is madra uisce, which means water dog. The body length of the otter is 60 - 85 cm. The otter's weight is about 15kg. The otter lives by the river bank in a nice cosy hole. It finds a new hole each day and lives alone. Where it lives is called a holt or den.
The female goes out hunting for fish and eels. Then she finds a mate. After she mates, cubs grow inside her. She has 4-5 cubs and they are born blind and helpless. When the cubs are bigger the male leaves the female on her own with the cubs. They stay in the holt for eight weeks, and then go out to catch fish for the first time. They are very playful animals but are shy and are not often seen. In Ireland otters do not have many enemies apart from man. Hunting and water pollution sometimes endangers the otter. They spend most of their time in the water and are usually nocturnal. They have small ears, short legs and webbed feet and this helps to make them excellent swimmers.
By Jennifer Mealy and Maria Scott
