Another first on OtterCam. This is the first time I have seen two otters playing. Five nights before I had several times seen one otter following another in and out of the water and could hear splashing off camera but this time they are play fighting. The whole episode lasted for 10 minutes but only fragments were captured on camera, partly because the otters were sometimes out of view and partly because Browning cameras (frustratingly) only record for 20s at night.
This is a dog otter and a female but I don't know the relationship between them. In early May the mother of the previous cubs seemed to be encouraging attention from a dog otter. If all went according to plan then I would have expected new cubs to be born about now, in which case she certainly wouldn't be playing or flirting. It is also interesting that there is no vocalisation. When the female was previously encouraging attention from the dog she was constantly chittering. This time we hear only splashing. Here is the video.
Fabulous footage and photos Chris and very interesting analysis.
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