it's the otters' island; as soon as they develop opposable thumbs we're done for https://t.co/3K8Vteammv
— Gerry Doyle (@mgerrydoyle) September 30, 2021
Otters have always been native to Singapore, but massive development in the 1960s and 70s destroyed their habitat and led to widespread pollution, @NatGeo reported.
After the city began cleaning up its murky waterways, otter families slowly returned. https://t.co/mqFDTxpE9M pic.twitter.com/DBl0pRRMzG
— Insider Asia (@InsiderAsia) September 29, 2021
The average lifespan of a koi fish is around 40 years, according to the Singapore National Zoo, but they can live much longer.
Koi can also be very expensive.
A 2018 auction of Japanese koi saw one fish go for $1.8 million.https://t.co/hWoyaqZPiq
— Insider Asia (@InsiderAsia) September 29, 2021
Despite these incidents, lots of residents still hold the otters in high esteem.
Even victims of them — including former actress Jazreel Low, who in 2020 captured otters killing koi at the beauty spa she owns — have rushed to the animals' defense. https://t.co/mqFDTxpE9M pic.twitter.com/3iXzY96w9m
— Insider Asia (@InsiderAsia) September 29, 2021
Jeffrey Teo, the founder of the otter appreciation Facebook group Ottercity, summed it up beautifully. Explaining to the @SCMPonu, otters actually embody #lifegoals for many Singaporeans.https://t.co/mqFDTxpE9M pic.twitter.com/9rZP6Us71X
— Insider Asia (@InsiderAsia) September 29, 2021
SEATTLE NEEDS KOI CARP!
Otters are mysteriously attacking people and dogs in Alaska's largest city https://t.co/GtqgMagFbN
— CBS News (@CBSNews) September 28, 2021
Math Guy
Did you mean others?
schrodingers_cat
I for one welcome our otter overlords.
jl
This quote from a local:
“They are exactly who we want to be,” he said. “They spend time with family. They like to swim, eat good food and do a little sunbathing.”
For some reason I thought Singapore was an island nation of regimented workaholics. But, maybe I should check it out.
Al Z.
I think that this situation absolutely requires a really futile and stupid gesture be done on somebody’s part
raven
When I was sea-kayaking off Orcas Island the guide told us that if you looked right at the otters they’d dive under water but if you looked at them out of the corner of your eye they’d stay up. They did.
jl
The draconian durian regulations in Singapore are horrific.
Good thing the otters are a small, relatively well behaved, native species. I was afraid for a moment a family of giant otters got imported into the place. They’d eat everything alive, including the people.
Singapore would be cordoned off, a place of true but horrifying legend. Complete eaten alive by giant otters.
laura
They go for the eyes: https://www.sfgate.com/california-news/article/otters-vicious-lassen-redwood-national-lost-coast-16169615.php
jl
@laura: Lotta weird stuff up in that part of California, I guess same goes for the otters.
scav
There’s already an otter patrol in our back yard. Be prepared. Taco Truck is still, alas, over a mile away.
Ella in New Mexico
Ok, first of all, “Koi” are just frigging CARP. Just because they’re pretty doesn’t make them less CARP. Spending 1.5 million dollars on a fish, just because of a fairytale about it’s “genetics” also doesn’t make it less CARP.
From where I come, Carp are somewhat invasive bottom feeding nuisances, mostly because humans don’t want to eat them and therefore live a predator-less existence, choking out streams and lakes with their presence.
Second, Otters ROCK. Are smarter than CARP. Are cuter than CARP. Are performing their sacred duty in the food chain by eating the excess CARP.
The otters win.
NotMax
Remember a segment on a Japanese program where they visited someone who raised koi for sale, part of which went something like this (numbers not exact but serve to compare to one another to relay the gist of what transpired):
Reporter: “How much do these sell for?”
Koi Man: “It varies. See that one over there? That’s a 900 yen koi. And that other one over there? That’s a 15,000 yen koi.”
Reporter: “They look exactly the same to me. What’s the difference that sets them apart?”
Koi Man: “The difference is one is 900 yen and the other is 15,000 yen.”
Ken
Otters in Singapore, boar in Rome. Are the other mammals having secret meetings where they divvy up our cities?
StringOnAStick
There’s been talk about restoring the marine otter population on the Oregon coast, needed because they used to be there and they kept the sea urchin population under control. The sea urchins are booming, and destroying the kelp, which is seriously bad news since that’s where fish fry hide and grow. The fishermen went nuts over the proposal to bring otters back because they think they’ll eat their catch and because fishing for sea urchins as an export to Japan is currently a big market for them. I say bring back the sea otters! The ocean needs kelp!
Faithful Lurker
I once saw an otter and a bald eagle disputing the claim over a fish that they both had their claws into.
The otter had dragged the large fish into a flat rock and then the eagle decided it should be his or hers ( I couldn’t tell the gender) They tussled for a while and then the otter slipped off the rock with the fish in its mouth and the eagle was left hungry.
NotMax
@Ella in New Mexico
Quasi-obligatory?
:)
mrmoshpotato
You adorable, chaos-causing bastards!
NotMax
@Kenn
If we get a choice I call dibs on the shmoos!
:)
mrmoshpotato
@Al Z.:
So Singapore needs to turn on their Musk signal?
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@laura:
I now have an otter phobia
Chetan Murthy
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Did you read the linked-to article? Sheesh, that pic of the poor woman victim …. sheeeeesh.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Chetan Murthy: yeah that was scary, when I saw that I thought she must have tried to pet one or something
but it looks like those attacks are pretty rare? and they’re slow on land
jl
@Ella in New Mexico: “The otters win.”
But….do they….?
I read that eating too much goldfish is unhealthy. They have some substance in them that interferes with one of the essential vitamins. (one of the Bs?)
Anyone know more about that. BJ is a full service blog with universal expertise in everything, as any schoolchild knows.
Chetan Murthy
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
And then my hyperactive imagination started to play out *that* scene ….. [shudder: the screams, the screams]
billcinsd
Here is a recent good one from The Librarians
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TexU2seK9tA
Ken
@Chetan Murthy: Like the compsognathus scenes in the Jurassic Park movies, but with cute furry animals — or, as that newspaper article put it, “necrophiliac, serial-killing fur monsters of the sea.”
Atticus Dogsbody
I have been warning of the menace of these misanthropic mustelids for years, yet none will listen and I fear it is too late.
SiubhanDuinne
@NotMax:
This is not incorrect, but personally I have always preferred the alternative pluralisation: Shmoon.
Nutmeg again
@jl: Durian regulations NEED to be draconian!
frosty
@schrodingers_cat: LOL! You beat everyone else to it.
barbequebob
I am partial to mustelids of all kinds. Yes, they are very effective predators, a part of the natural world that so many of us profess to love. As lovers of nature, we need to embrace and respect it in all its aspects. And, when it threatens our interests, be it personal safety or the integrity of our property and possessions, we need to educate ourselves about how we can minimize conflicts and damage in ways that allow us to co-exist with the native wildlife that preceded us to wherever it is we live. Of course, in the neighborhood I grew up in Queens, NY, we had no problems with mustelids, wild canids, or bear attacks.
Emma
Koi are pretty cool, though they are not my thing. My grandfather had a pond of them, and they would eat out of your hand. Beautiful to watch, although in hindsight, probably boring as hell for the fish to just keep swimming around and around the same damn pond.
There’s also a lot of symbolism behind koi, hence why people like having them in around and don’t mind paying $$$. The main meaning I know is luck, but there are lots of others. And yes, they are hella long-lived. My grandfather died over a decade ago, and many of the fish he bought decades ago are still going strong.
That said, otters are smart little assholes, and I love them. Pretty common to see them hang out in the Botanic Gardens.
Parfigliano
@jl: what?
Parfigliano
@Ella in New Mexico: Preach
jl
@Parfigliano: What about what?
Durian is a fruit in SE Asia that stinks so much when it’s ripe that some countries have regulations about where you can sell it.
Giant otters are a S American species that is very big, very aggressive, like to eat their prey alive, and run around in big gangs.
So, two jokes.
NotMax
@jl
Years ago read that it is illegal to carry a durian aboard the BART system in San Francisco.
Origuy
@NotMax: I doubt there’s anything specific about durian on the BART system. The BART rules say that you can’t eat or drink once you’re inside the fare gates. Other transit systems have specific rules about durian, notably in Southeast Asia and maybe Australia.
NotMax
@Origuy>
This was like 20 or more years ago. Any restrictions might well have been eased since then.
Doug R
Around here it’s raccoons. They will rise to the occasion and stop their raccoon gang wars and save us from the otter invasion.
.
.
.
Unless they help ’em
LiminalOwl
@Ken: Not only mammals. The turkeys invading Boston have been … interesting.
wenchacha
They are so adorably cute, but undeniably evil. EVIL. My daughter learned to avoid the critters when she was fishing for a season in Alaska. She heard the tale of someone trying to get an otter out of the basement, and needing lots and lots of stitches as a result.
Then there is this:
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/otter-rape/
Feathers
We need to get Benedict Cumberbatch on the case. Seriously, Benedict Cumberbatch, Otter Crime Detective is the long running mystery show we all need. https://www.boredpanda.com/benedict-cumberbatch-otter-lookalike-doppelganger
S. Cerevisiae
Mustelids are badass and they all punch above their weight, hell the biggest one is the wolverine and even grizzly bears don’t mess with them.
PaulB
I had a backyard pond but gave up on the fish after several years. The problem wasn’t otters; it was raccoons. After having to basically restock the pond every year, I decided that enough was enough and I wasn’t in the business of stocking a raccoon larder.
Sherparick