Otters are some of the most charming mammals you might encounter. Sometimes nicknamed the "water sausage" by the internet, otters are playful, intelligent, and capable of using tools.

They also appear in popular culture, most notably in Tarka the Otter and The Wind in the Willows.

Yet in reality, they're incredibly elusive. They might live in wetlands, along rivers, and at the coast, but seeing one isn't easy! They also enjoy woodland habitats, and even in towns, so they're a very interesting species.

In this post, I'll be talking about the European otter. They're listed as near threatened on the global IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. They also raise their cubs in holts, or underground burrows, and they mostly eat fish, amphibians, crustaceans, and aquatic birds.

I've seen one of the otters that lives at the Gosforth Park Nature Reserve, which was very exciting given how elusive they are! It's a woodland setting surrounding a lake, so I thought otters would make a good first stop on our Woodland Mammals tour.

But given how good they are at hiding from humans, is there much folklore about them?

Let's find out in this week's episode of Fabulous Folklore!

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