Otter: An otter is any of 13 living species of semiaquatic (or in the case of the sea otter, aquatic) mammals which feed on fish and shellfish, and also other invertebrates, amphibians, birds and small mammals. The otter subfamily Lutrinae forms part of the family Mustelidae, which also includes weasels, badgers, wolverines, and polecats.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".
An otter's den is called a holt or couch. A male otter is a dog, a female a bitch, and a baby a whelp, kit, or pup. The collective nouns for otters are bevy, family, lodge or romp, being descriptive of their often playful nature, or when in water, raft. The time of gestation in otters is about 60 to 86 days. The newborn pup is taken care of by the mother, the father, and all the other offspring. Female otters reach sexual maturity at approximately two years of age, while males can produce offspring at approximately three years of age.
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