Otter Otter (Lutra lutra) Otter © Darin Smith About Otters are one the UK’s top predators. Otters are well adapted to living on the water by having webbed feet allowing them to swim quickly and dense fur keeping them warm. Otter cubs are born in burrows known as Holts and after 10 weeks will have become great swimmers. In Wiltshire, Otter numbers have been slowly recovering although their populations are still fragmented. Diet Otters feed on mostly fish but do also eat water birds, amphibians and crustaceans. How to Track/Identify? Otters can be but confused for a Mink, but Otters are much larger in size, have a more powerful body, have paler grey-brown fur, broader snout and broader, pale chest and throat. Did you know? Otters can stay submerged for up to 4 minutes and can reach speeds of up to 7 miles per hour underwater An Otters tail is a foot long and makes up around a third of an Otter’s body Otters have two different ways of swimming through the water, first by using their webbed feet while if they want to move much faster they use their whole body to propel themselves through the water. Reserves where they are present Lower Moor Farm, Smallbrook Meadows, Langford Lakes Others in the Mammal Family American Mink, Bank Vole, Badger, Brown Hare, Grey Squirrel, Hazel Dormouse, Hedgehog, House Mouse, Rabbit, Red Fox, Weasel, Wild Boar Print out a copy of the Otter fact sheet