Otter sightings along the Mississippi River

Tim Spitzack Editor

The North American river otter is one of nature’s most playful mammals to observe. Watching them slide down a slippery riverbank or slope of snow, twist and turn as they glide effortlessly through the water, or frolic about in tall prairie grasses leads one to believe they don’t have a care in the world. They act as if the world is their oyster.

I’ve spent countless hours over the past two decades traipsing through the U.S. National Park Service’s Mississippi National River and

Recreation Area (MNRRA) in the metro area and paddling the river but it wasn’t until late summer 2021 that I got my first glimpse of this happy-go-lucky creature. It was a glorious day in mid-September, with warm sunshine and a cool, gentle breeze. I was kayaking around Lower Grey Cloud Island when I saw movement in the distance. At first, I thought a carp had surfaced, a common occurrence in the area. Then I noticed a brown head weaving through the water. I got excited, thinking it might be a beaver. Then another head appeared, and another. As the scene came into sharp focus, I suddenly realized I was witnessing a family of river otters: five in all. I stopped paddling and drifted along breathlessly, hoping not to disturb them as I enjoyed the show. The otters seemed not to mind my presence as long as I kept my distance. One barked and I snickered and nodded my head to return the greeting. One surfaced with a small fish in its long-whiskered mouth and casually munched away. The others simply swam around, bobbing up and down in an ever-constant circle of activity. Perhaps each was looking for a meal, but if that was the case, they were in no hurry to find it.

The waters around Grey Cloud Island are pocked with other small islands