I had noticed your beautiful avatar and honestly thought that it was one of Gavin Maxwell's sketches of Mij, his pet otter. He was the author of the book and inspirational story which was made into a film,
The Ring of Brightwater. The book and film are absolute gems and amongst my favourite ones. Sadly, it has a most tragic ending.
Otters have a unique and mischievous look and you have managed to capture it. So yes, you do have great talent and I would seriously encourage you to pursue it.
Have you seen em Cleo Bryant's work? She may also be able to inspire you.
It's so sad that otters are on the decline and many people have no idea about their most wonderful personalities.
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Gavin & Mij
WOW! Cleo Bryant's work is amazing! I'm super inspired.
Thank you for encouragement. That means a lot.
Otters are wonderful, you are right!
Lutra lutra is mainly very solidary otter species, but the female allows young otters to hunt in her territory. It's speculated that the female can recognize her grown up pups by smell. They have very good sense of smell, hearing and eye sight. Also, males give better hunting grounds, during winter, to the female and her offspring, even when that means that the males will suffer from it.
And Asian small-clawed otters, -which are listed as Vulnerable in the IUCN Red List, and are victims of cruel pet trade,- are monogamous. And they are way too adorable.
Singapore smooth coated otters are family-centered, some live in huge pacts. Giant otters are also family-centered, and they are listed as endangered. In Spanish Giant otters are called river wolf: Lobo de rio. Otters do act like dogs or wolves oftentimes. And I do love wolves, but otters are even better, because they are all semiaquatic, aquatic or marine. Evolution has made them that way over the last 23 million years, and the otter we know today has evolved significantly 7 million years ago.
Otter is a sign of clear water and healthy habitat.
Sea otters keep kelp forests alive by eating sea urchin, and that's why they are important factor in fighting climate change. But ocean warming decreases the capacity of kelp forests to absorb carbon. So otters can not do everything by themselves. We humans must change or habits.
And they are playful, like you said. They play with each other, even moms play with their pups. And Lutra lutra may slide down a snowy hill just out of pleasure. They slide, reach the water, climb up again and slide. When otters aren't sleeping or resting, they are constantly doing something: playing, hunting, taking care of their thick fur, etc. They have the most dense fur in all animal kingdom and that has evolved to keep the cold water completely away from their skin, because they do not have blubber.
I wish there would be more books and documentaries available about otters.
I will have to get my paws on The Ring of Brightwater. Even if the ending isn't going to be happy.. Thank you for telling me about the book.
