One Yellowknife trio was lucky enough to catch a one-of-a-kind show featuring the cute creatures torpedoing down a snowy trail on their bellies.
Donna Dooley, her daughter, and her daughter’s friend went down to the Cameron River, located just outside of Yellowknife.
They found that the icy river had transformed into an otter playground where a trio of the cute critters was sliding down the river on their bellies. The otters would disappear into a hole in the ice, then out of nowhere, they would reappear and bound down the trail once again.
The show went on for 30-minutes, during which time Dooley was able to capture plenty amazing photos of the otters.
“They were peeking at us, running across the snow, in and out and down the trail…It was amazing!” Dooley told CBC News.
Although some researchers believe otters slide merely as a means of transportation, the photos captured by Dooley make it clear that there’s also an element of fun involved, too.
“If you have animals that are more intelligent, they’ll have play as part of their behaviour,” Suzanne Carriere, a biologist with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, told CBC News.
“These guys are very social, sometimes even a bunch of guys just hang out together, not just families.”
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