In the eyes of many people, otters are cute and docile animals. They have a cute appearance, short stature, and are very good at acting like a baby. melted.
However, don’t be fooled by the cute appearance of the otter. In the Jin Dynasty’s "Sou Shen Ji", there is a story about an otter turning into a woman holding an umbrella and charming pedestrians by the river. In fact, it is very domineering and fierce in its bones, and often does things like this. The heinous "evil deeds" can be called a dark force in the animal world.
In 2016, at the Bronx Zoo in New York, a Javan Ludong monkey got too close to the water and was forcibly dragged into the water by a group of otters. Even though the little monkey struggled with all its strength to get ashore, its companions on the shore also tried to rescue it. But the otter still drowned the little monkey alive in full view of everyone.
A similar case occurred in the UK when a group of hungry otters dragged a golden lion tamarin into a pool, drowned it and then ate it.
The dominance of otters is not only reflected in attacking animals, they are also aggressive towards people. As early as March 2018, 10 people kayaking together in the Braden River in Florida, USA, encountered a wild otter. Unexpectedly, the otter suddenly jumped onto a kayak and started running wildly. He grabbed and bit a woman's arms, nose and ears. Even when a fellow traveler hit her on the back with a paddle, she still bit her and refused to let go. In the end, she even overturned the kayak. The woman who was attacked was finally killed by her teammates. He was able to escape through desperate efforts. The picture below shows the attacked woman being interviewed by a TV station.
In addition, fierce struggles also occur between otters of the same kind. For example, they often fight over territory. In 2020, an earth-shattering otter war occurred in Singapore . This was between two local otter families. During the territorial battle, each side sent more than 10 thugs. As soon as the two sides met, they started fighting without saying a word. The brutality was no less brutal than a gang fight. After a fierce fight, one side finally won a complete victory. .
Drowning monkeys, attacking humans, and starting gang wars, otters are the underworld of the animal kingdom. Since otters are so arrogant, if you put an adult crocodile into a pond with dozens of otters, will the crocodile be bullied by the otters? The answer is yes, why do you say that? Let’s talk about this issue together.
Let’s take a brief look at the otter
The otter is an aquatic member of the mustelidae family. It is also an omnivore and is distributed on the three continents of Europe, Asia and Africa. They live in rivers They especially like to inhabit wooded streams, low-lying waterlands, and mountainous areas with many fish.
Otters are generally only 70 to 100 centimeters in length. They have a cute face and make squealing sounds. They look like a cute little creature. However, otters are omnivores, good at diving, and have sharp teeth. When hunting, once it has control of its prey, it drags it into the water, where it can easily tear open its skin and crush its bones.
According to research, ancient otters from the dinosaur era were larger and had stronger bite force, and could easily prey on small mammals (see the 3D reconstruction of the giant otter skull in Zhaotong Reservoir Dam below for details). Giant otters in the Amazon region are the species closest to ancient otters. Their body length is more than 1.8 meters, their weight is about 35 kilograms, and they eat 20% of their body weight every day. They are called "river wolves" by locals.
In addition to feeding on fish and shrimp, otters will also prey on beavers, raccoons, snakes and other more difficult prey when they are extremely hungry. Since otters are social animals, it is difficult to deal with one otter, let alone A group of otters, so otters are a terrifying presence for these aquatic animals.
So, if a crocodile, the "King of Freshwater", meets an otter, will he also worry about being bullied by the otter, or even becoming food in the otter's belly?
The "tragic" experience of a crocodile being bullied by an otter
The giant crocodile was bitten by the otter on its tail and teased until it became dizzy.
There was a loud noise in Kafue National Park in Zambia. Looking around, it turned out to be a huge crocodile "roaring" at an otter. The reason why it was angry was that the otter kept biting its tail.
The crocodile's body length is at least more than 2.5 meters, while the otter's body length is less than half that. However, the otter clings to the crocodile like a scoundrel, biting one on the left and one on the right, causing the crocodile to adjust its position back and forth.
Since the crocodile couldn't catch up with the otter on land, it didn't chase the otter. It just flicked its tail to fight back when it was bitten. However, it was cleverly avoided by the otter every time. I don't know how long it took before the otter ran to the side and drank. He took a sip of water and slipped into the jungle unscathed.
It is said that the reason why the otter attacks the crocodile is because it thinks that the crocodile has entered its territory, so it uses this method to remind the crocodile to leave. In any case, the crocodile stayed for a while and then left.
If you think that the crocodile’s tail was bitten by an otter because it made a mistake and broke into the otter’s territory first, which is not a particularly tragic experience, then let’s take a look at what will happen if the otter in turn breaks into the crocodile’s territory?
An otter broke into the territory, and a group of crocodiles did not dare to utter a sound.
A group of crocodiles were lying on the beach and sunbathing comfortably. Suddenly, a giant otter came over and broke the calm. You must know that otters have a strong sense of territory, but they don't feel guilty at all when they intrude into other people's territories.
Not only did the otter not leave out of guilt, but it rolled around crazily on the sand next to the crocodile, causing dust to fly for a while. The crocodile next to it ate several mouthfuls of sand. Just when it was about to have a seizure, it discovered that it was a giant otter. , the crocodile thought about it and decided not to provoke this villain, so it moved to the side to make more room for the otter, while the four or five crocodiles next to it didn't even raise their heads...
This The crocodile is so cowardly. He was bullied to death by the otter, so he still had to swallow his anger. Even if he couldn't beat the otter, wouldn't he still have so many companions around him? Could it be that if it was beaten by an otter, wouldn't these companions dare to go and help?
At the end of the viewing, he discovered that there was not only one otter on the shore, but also several otters swimming in the water. It is estimated that if the crocodile really dared to attack the otter on the shore, these otters would be caught and fight with people.
So in the face of the "evil force" of otters, the crocodile can only give in. However, not every time it gives in, there will be good results. Let's take a look at more tragic events.
An otter eats a larger crocodile alive.
This photo was taken at the Woodruff Lake Wildlife Sanctuary in Florida, USA. It shows an otter holding down a young alligator. According to the photographer, the otter took advantage of the crocodile's unpreparedness and suddenly jumped out of the water and attacked from behind. Biting its neck, the attacked crocodile immediately roared in terror, and then swam forward desperately to break free, but to no avail, so it began to turn its neck in an attempt to fight back.
But no matter how the crocodile turned its neck, the otter kept biting the back of its neck and would not let go. Therefore, the crocodile could never turn around to fight back. As the blood continued to flow from the back of its neck, its physical strength was slowly exhausted, and the crocodile finally stopped struggling. At this moment, the otter dragged the crocodile to the shore and brought it into the grass, and then the photographer heard a "crunching" sound.
It is unbelievable that a crocodile was eaten alive by an otter.
Why is it said that otters are the natural enemies of crocodiles?
These things that happen to crocodiles are shocking. You must know that crocodiles are the "King of Freshwater". They not only have amazing bite power, but also have abnormal defense capabilities. Crocodile skin can sometimes even withstand ordinary bullet attacks. For example, in April 2007 at the Kaohsiung Zoo in Taiwan, in order to subdue a crocodile that attacked a veterinarian, the police fired two shots at the crocodile from a distance of 10 meters. After subsequent inspection, it was found that both bullets were deflected by the crocodile's armor. Below: This is a picture of the scene at that time.
However, when the crocodile meets the otter, the position of "King of Freshwater" seems to be almost unsteady. Not to mention actively attacking the otter, even if it is bullied, sometimes it will choose to swallow it. is not good in size and quantity. When lagging behind, crocodiles will be suppressed by otters at every turn, so much so that some people would say that otters are the natural enemies of crocodiles. Why is this?
In my opinion, there are three main reasons:
First: The fatal shortcomings of crocodiles
The above examples do not mean that crocodiles are necessarily afraid of otters, but one thing that is certain is that crocodiles know that they are not sure of defeating otters, so they would rather Avoid them and don't want to get into trouble.
But this is different from crocodiles avoiding hippos and elephants, because a hippopotamus can bite a crocodile in half with one bite, and an elephant can make the crocodile return to the west with one step. In other words, the crocodile may They were killed in one fell swoop, something an otter obviously couldn't do.
However, the otter may slowly consume the crocodile to death, because the crocodile is far less flexible than the otter. If you want to cause harm to the otter, you need to launch multiple attacks, but the crocodile's endurance is very poor. It takes several minutes of vigorous exercise. Afterwards, the muscles will be filled with lactic acid, and the body will feel like it is drunk, unable to move at all.
Therefore, the crocodile will not fight the otter unless it is absolutely necessary. That is why you can see that the giant crocodile only flicked its tail even if it was bitten in pain. This is not because it does not take the otter into consideration. , but to save energy. If it goes up to chase the otter, it is likely to end up in a dangerous situation due to exhaustion of energy.
Second: The physical advantages of otters
On the other hand, otters, although they are at a disadvantage in terms of size, can move quickly and have good endurance, so they will not be at a disadvantage when fighting crocodiles.
In terms of moving speed, otters can crush crocodiles, especially on land. According to records, otters can reach the fastest speed of 30 kilometers per hour on land, and most crocodiles can’t even run, while crocodiles that can run can run 30 kilometers per hour. I can't run even 40 meters.
Otters not only run fast, but also have good endurance. They can persist for a long time in a fight. If they persist until the crocodile has no physical strength, the otter can win. For this reason, some otters fumble in long-term struggles. They use the tactic of biting the back of the neck to kill a crocodile. They will rely on this tactic to prey on crocodiles that are not too big in size when they are hungry.
So when a crocodile sees an otter, he will not think anything wrong at all, but will remain vigilant.
Third: The teamwork ability of otters
In addition to knowing how to use their own advantages in battle, the key is that otters also know how to work as a team. If one otter cannot defeat a crocodile, then a group of otters will unite to defeat the crocodile.
How cooperative are otters? The otter gang fight in Singapore is proof of this, and if that’s not convincing, here’s the fact that otters cooperate with fishermen to catch fish.
Bangladesh fishermen have cooperated with otters in fishing for hundreds of years. Local fishermen will put down a large net in the waters where fish are infested, and well-trained otters will jump into the water to search when they find fish. It will make a screaming sound to disturb the fish, and then rush the panicked fish towards the fishing net. At this time, the fishermen on the boat only need to close the net and they are done. By cooperating with the otter, the fishermen's fishing efficiency is amazing.
Therefore, although Minase is not as powerful as crocodiles, because otters are good at cooperation, a group of otters are very powerful when they are together. If they take the initiative to provoke the crocodiles, the crocodiles will not dare to attack rashly. At most, they will roar to scare the otters while continuously roaring. Back up, and then flee quickly. Those crocodiles who dare to fight endlessly with the otter group are likely to die of exhaustion in the end...
Written at the end
The otter group is a great threat to adult crocodiles. This is Because otters are flexible and have good endurance, they can defeat huge crocodiles by relying on teamwork. Therefore, in places where the two habitats are close, crocodiles will not actively provoke otters, otherwise they will ask for trouble or even become food for otters. .
In our eyes, the soft and cute otters are even fearful of crocodiles. So, whether you see otters on a boat or on land, it is best to keep a safe distance of more than 20 meters from them. Never forget that otters are A wild animal that is both adorable and ferocious.
