Thought bubble thursday

                                          🍍Hey guys!!🍍

Analey here and today, as you should know is 💭Thought bubble Thursday.  💭Today I will be telling you all about.........wait for it..............

    

                             OTTERS!!! 

I chose otters because they are one of my favorite exotic animals, and----if you've ever seen pictures of otters or gone to the zoo to see them----they are S-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o cute! There are other reasons I chose otters too: 

1. My littlest sister just learned how to say otter and is always asking for my stuffed one.

2. I thought you all would like it if a did another animal after my last post. (go to the search bar at the top of the home page and put in 'Thought Bubble Thursday' or just scroll down till you find it:) 

and 3.  There just so adorable! 

                                    all right-y ready for the Fun Facts!?

Fun Facts about Otters:

1.  A typical North American river otter will live to the age of 12, with some surviving longer. The oldest living river otter on record was 27 years old. (can you believe that?!)

2. Some otter families love nothing more than to kiss and cuddle (how cute is that!)  

3. Forget everything you thought you knew about otter species. Thirteen different species exist around the globe. The U.S. is home to two species: the sea otter and the North American river otter. River otters are much smaller -- averaging 10-30 pounds -- with a cylindrical body and small head. Sea otters weigh more -- around 45-90 pounds -- with large, furry faces.

4. Otters have some interesting relatives. Otters are part of the Mustelidae family, which is a family of carnivorous mammals that includes skunks, weasels, wolverines and badgers. The sea otter is the largest member of the weasel family, yet the smallest marine mammal in North America.

5. Most sea otters call Alaska home. Approximately 90 percent of the world’s sea otters live in coastal Alaska. Many live in the waters surrounding public lands including Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge, Kenai Fjords National Park and Glacier Bay National Park. Southern sea otters range along the mainland coastline of California from San Mateo County to Santa Barbara County, and San Nicolas Island.

6. U.S. and international law protects threatened sea otters. Hunted to the edge of extinction by fur traders in the 18th and 19th centuries, the few remaining sea otters (about 2,000 scattered in remnant colonies throughout the North Pacific rim) were first protected by the International Fur Seal Treaty in 1911. Sea otters in the United States received additional protections with the passage of the Marine Mammal Protection Act and the Endangered Species Act in the 1970s.

 

7. Sea otters eat 25 percent of their body weight in food every day. Sea otters’ diet includes sea urchins, crabs, mussels, and clams, which they’re known to crack open with a rock and eat while floating in the water. To find food, sea otters may occasionally dive as deep as 250 feet and will use their sensitive whiskers to locate small prey inside crevices or their strong forepaws to dig for clams.

 

8. Don’t challenge otters to a breath holding competition. An otter’s lung capacity is 2.5 times greater than that of similar-sized land mammals. Sea otters have been known to stay submerged for more than 5 minutes at a time.(how cool is that?!) River otters, however, can hold their breath for up to 8 minutes. The increased time underwater improves otters’ opportunity to sense prey and forage for food.

 

and to end are Fun Facts 

9. A group of resting otters is called a raft. Otters love to rest in groups. Researchers have seen concentrations of over 1,000 otters floating together. To keep from drifting away from each other, sea otters will wrap themselves up in seaweed, forming something that resembles a raft.

one more bonus Fun Fact because there is sooo much unknown to you still 

10. Sea otters have the thickest fur of any animal. Their fur contains between 600,000 to 1,000,000 hair follicles per square inch. Unlike most other marine mammals, otters lack a blubber layer. Instead they depend on their dense, water-resistant fur to provide insulation. To keep warm, sea otters spend a large portion of their days grooming and conditioning their fur. This traps air and heat next to their skin. 

                         (I found these facts on 'U.S. Department of the Interior' Blog)       

                              

                                              and thats all for the Fun Facts!  

Here are some otter coloring pages for you all to enjoy! 736 × 578 (just scroll down after you hit the link to find lots of choices)

                                                      

                                          Ta-ta for now!

    (P.S. don't forget to spread the word about The PINEAPPLE)