# Another river hazard to worry about



## mkashzg (Aug 9, 2006)

There was an aggressive otter around dog Island on Ruby horse thief a few years back and attacked some people if I recall correctly. I think there might’ve also been a dog in the water that may have bothered the otter. The link is attached below but unfortunately the story in the paper is no longer there.

Otter Attack!!


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## Andy H. (Oct 13, 2003)

And I thought the squirrel menace was bad....



https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/01/12/a-terrifying-and-hilarious-map-of-squirrel-attacks/


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## MNichols (Nov 20, 2015)

Late in the day going to the right of the last big island on Westwater, I've had them swim off the island and swim beside the boat till I pass the island. Too many times to count. They were never aggressive, but we didn't disturb them either.


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## Pinchecharlie (Jul 27, 2017)

A college age girl got mauled by a otter on the Madison here two or three years ago in an inner tube. Seem cute and cuddly but she got really messed up. Maybe their sick of them hooting and hollering and leaving beer cans in their yard? She got lots of stitches. Would definitely not be fun. Bears live in the woods and sharks live in the ocean as my dad would say.


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## Bootboy (Aug 25, 2020)

Giant, water dwelling weasels. They can be nasty critters when you piss them off.

Side note: They are returning to Cataract Canyon. We saw 3 families of them down there last month.


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## MNichols (Nov 20, 2015)

Pinchecharlie said:


> A college age girl got mauled by a otter on the Madison here two or three years ago in an inner tube. Seem cute and cuddly but she got really messed up. Maybe their sick of them hooting and hollering and leaving beer cans in their yard? She got lots of stitches. Would definitely not be fun. Bears live in the woods and sharks live in the ocean as my dad would say.











Woman recovering after 'vicious' OTTER attack that left her with a broken hand and eight stitches in her head


Sydney Sainsbury of West Yellowstone says she was subjected to a 'vicious' and unprovoked attack by an otter when tubing on a Montana river on July 9.




www.dailymail.co.uk


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## Pinchecharlie (Jul 27, 2017)

That would suck bad!!


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## BenSlaughter (Jun 16, 2017)

*My Alter ego*


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## MNichols (Nov 20, 2015)

BenSlaughter said:


> View attachment 68926
> *My Alter ego*


Or at least, your "spirit animal"


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## Electric-Mayhem (Jan 19, 2004)

Turns out Sea Otters, though cute, are kind of a bunch of rapey assholes....especially the males... The case against otters: necrophiliac, serial-killing fur monsters of the sea

Sounds like the River variety are tame in comparison most of the time.

I see them in Westwater a lot...and they usually just check us out and then swim for a safer spot away from us.


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## Utah78 (Apr 28, 2018)

I've had an otter surface 6 feet in front of my while I was wading to fly fish on the Green River A section, but I thought it was just being friendly or curious. I've also had a huge beaver chase me out of the water on a small creek in Utah and it scared me really bad! I love seeing these creatures, but it would suck to be attacked by them.


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## jerseyjeff (Apr 16, 2016)

I was pretty crushed when I found out how mean otters actually are. I always thought they were cute and gregarious, turns out they can be pretty vicious, not as bad as a honey badger, but way less friendly than a golden retriever.


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## Wallrat (Jan 19, 2021)

This is yet more proof that Montana is a seriously dangerous place. Try California instead. Their otters are all stoned...very mellow.
And don’t get me started on the whole Murder Hornets thing!


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## Conundrum (Aug 23, 2004)

I was late night pissing at Dolly Lake last trip and a beaver gave a big tail slap about 15 feet from the bank. Woke a bunch of people up. He was not happy. We watched him take down a small tree on the bank during dinner.


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## MNichols (Nov 20, 2015)

Back in 2000, this guy swam up to camp in lower Grand Canyon and was quite pissed we were inhabiting it. Hung round hissing for 10 minutes before disappearing into the grasses. 









He was a BIG fella with what appeared to be 3 inch choppers when he bared his "fangs"


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## Bleugrass (Feb 5, 2018)

Probably still mad that the Riverbottom Nightmare Band won the talent show...


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## Electric-Mayhem (Jan 19, 2004)

jerseyjeff said:


> I was pretty crushed when I found out how mean otters actually are. I always thought they were cute and gregarious, turns out they can be pretty vicious, not as bad as a honey badger, but way less friendly than a golden retriever.


I don't think there is a creature on the planet that is more friendly then a Golden Retriever....so that is a pretty low bar to clear.


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## MT4Runner (Apr 6, 2012)

Saw otters on the upper MF Flathead this spring. Pretty cool to see in the wild. Did not attempt to molest them, so nothing further to report on this topic.


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## MT4Runner (Apr 6, 2012)

Sea Otters Do Terrible Things To Baby Seals


https://medium.com/media/dfaf4c1ef3774eeaf838ef20d8b117a7/hrefCute, right? Baby otters! Doesn’t it tug on your heart strings to see them behind that fence? Set them free! Animals should be free!No! They should be locked in cages forever. Those baby ...




www.theawl.com


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## MNichols (Nov 20, 2015)

MT4Runner said:


> Sea Otters Do Terrible Things To Baby Seals
> 
> 
> https://medium.com/media/dfaf4c1ef3774eeaf838ef20d8b117a7/hrefCute, right? Baby otters! Doesn’t it tug on your heart strings to see them behind that fence? Set them free! Animals should be free!No! They should be locked in cages forever. Those baby ...
> ...


That's freaking horrible!

But then again it's nature.


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## basinrafter (May 12, 2009)

OMG - The ROUS's from Princess Bride are real????!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?



MNichols said:


> Back in 2000, this guy swam up to camp in lower Grand Canyon and was quite pissed we were inhabiting it. Hung round hissing for 10 minutes before disappearing into the grasses.
> View attachment 68939
> 
> 
> He was a BIG fella with what appeared to be 3 inch choppers when he bared his "fangs"


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## MNichols (Nov 20, 2015)

basinrafter said:


> OMG - The ROUS's from Princess Bride are real????!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?


Ummm, I guess. What are ROUS's, and who's a princess bride? Besides my wife 😂


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## Pinchecharlie (Jul 27, 2017)

Rodents
Of
Unusual 
Size
Lol!!!


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## Pinchecharlie (Jul 27, 2017)




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## Ever_Cat (Jan 20, 2009)

Just make sure that you stay clear of the Amazon Giant River Otter. They get up to 6' long, hunt in packs and can take out caiman and jaguars.


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## NoCo (Jul 21, 2009)

I once saw a girl, maybe 30yrs old stranded on a bike path screaming surrounded by prairie dogs. I wasnt much help as i was laughing too hard.


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## Pinchecharlie (Jul 27, 2017)

Damn....do not fuck with Diablo and his crew!!!


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## Andy H. (Oct 13, 2003)

Yeah, Mother Nature can really mess with your head if you start anthropomorphizing and regarding anything furry with big eyes as "cute and cuddly." Once walking across a city park I saw a squirrel nibbling on something in it's paws. "How adorable," I thought, "He must've found an acorn or a nut." As I got closer I realized it was a hatchling bird that must have fallen, or been taken from, it's nest.


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## MT4Runner (Apr 6, 2012)

Andy H. said:


> Yeah, Mother Nature can really mess with your head if you start anthropomorphizing and regarding anything furry with big eyes as "cute and cuddly." Once walking across a city park I saw a squirrel nibbling on something in it's paws. "How adorable," I thought, "He must've found an acorn or a nut." As I got closer I realized it was a hatchling bird that must have fallen, or been taken from, it's nest.


Heck, if you've ever had chickens, you understand why birds are closely related to dinosaurs.


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## Andy H. (Oct 13, 2003)

MT4Runner said:


> Heck, if you've ever had chickens, you understand why birds are closely related to dinosaurs.


LOL!

Oh yeah, there's that stage at about 4-8 weeks when they actually look like little dinosaurs.

I keep up with paleontology and the currently accepted thinking is that they're actual descendants of a branch of the dinosaur lineage that survived the extinction at the end of the Cretaceous.








Newly Discovered Fossil Bird Fills in Gap Between Dinosaurs and Modern Fliers


A skeleton from the Cretaceous found in Japan reveals an early bird with a tail nub resembling the avians of today




www.smithsonianmag.com





And anyone that thinks chickens are natural vegetarians has never seen what happens when you toss a bug into the brooder box, or when the birds get a scrap of meat in the coop...


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## Bootboy (Aug 25, 2020)

Andy H. said:


> Yeah, Mother Nature can really mess with your head if you start anthropomorphizing and regarding anything furry with big eyes as "cute and cuddly." Once walking across a city park I saw a squirrel nibbling on something in it's paws. "How adorable," I thought, "He must've found an acorn or a nut." As I got closer I realized it was a hatchling bird that must have fallen, or been taken from, it's nest.


Queue videos of elk literally mowin’ down on dead rabbits and seagulls swallowing rats whole.

I once watched a pair of ground squirrels kill and eat a rattle snake. They were initially defending their burrow, but once the snake was vanquished, they decided not to let it go to waste. Great source of lean protein.


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## BenSlaughter (Jun 16, 2017)




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## Pinchecharlie (Jul 27, 2017)

Ugh....we had chickens and we moved their coup and there were maybe two dozen baby mice under stuff. Like red wigglers babies and the chickens just mopped and ate them. It was kinda gnarly . I agree they must be related to dinosaurs lol. I was bummed to find out how awful wolves and lions where to their own kind.


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## RiverRhino (Aug 19, 2013)

MT4Runner said:


> Sea Otters Do Terrible Things To Baby Seals
> 
> 
> https://medium.com/media/dfaf4c1ef3774eeaf838ef20d8b117a7/hrefCute, right? Baby otters! Doesn’t it tug on your heart strings to see them behind that fence? Set them free! Animals should be free!No! They should be locked in cages forever. Those baby ...
> ...


Saw a fight between a sea otter and a raccoon once. Better than a pay per view ever! Would not mess with either!


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## Happy Camper (Sep 8, 2020)

Nothing thrills me more than an otter sighting on the river - they're made for rivers, and it seems rivers are made for otters. But they are vicious carnivores, just like their cousins the badgers and the wolverines, and other members of the Mustelidae family. Won't ever forget a photo I saw of a little short-tailed weasel riding a huge snowshoe hare like a jockey, chewing the back of its neck and spine into a bloody pulp. Not "mean", just being an otter.


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## Tanaman (Nov 13, 2020)

My family had a pet river otter as a kid. Cool pet until he hit his teen years and started trying to hump you every time you got in the water. 
So when I saw the same band of otters you were talking about it was ME that I was worried was going to get molested not the damn otters!


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