The 2023 Brazil Journals, Chapter Twenty-five

(To view photos full screen, click on one.   That will open a slide show that you can scroll through.) 

Chapter Twenty-Five

The River Wolves

Though a family of giant otters can bring down a caiman, the alligator-like reptiles do (infrequently) prey on otters. In fact, they’re about the only thing that does. A family of giant otters is pretty much indestructible, so it’s a good thing they're happy just eating fish.--Wired Website

 

On the water again after lunch, we spot a toco toucan on some branches far across the river.   It moves down the limbs to take a drink.

 

And then!!!   A family of giant river otters is moving upstream, fishing and eating as they go.

 

The adults are adept at catching fish and the juveniles crowd around them hoping they they’ll share.

 

The giant river otter is the largest member of the weasel family with some reaching six feet long.   It competes with the jaguars for food.   Their legs are short and stubby and end in webbed feet with sharp claws.

They live in highly social groups of family members, numbering from two to twenty.    They are monogamous.   Litters number from one to five, and at nine to ten months the juveniles can hunt independently.

The adults create large burrows, up to 50 meters in size, and set aside areas for communal use latrines.

The collective nouns for river otters are romp, bevy, family, raft, and pod.

The giant river otters are a top predator in the waterways, usually eating common fish but also taking on caimans, anacondas and piranhas.

Giant river otters are the noisiest of otters and have a complex repertoire of vocalizations.

Video of the giant river otters moving up the river:

 

Eventually, the otters reach a slit in the dirt bank.   It’s their den.   We spend more than an hour  watching their behavior, taking photo after photo, more than 400 for me, plus a video.

 

I find the behavior very interesting—that they hunt and feed as a family and share what must be a very large den in the river bank.   I wonder what they do when the flood season comes and the rivers overflow their banks.

 

An adult otter calls the family to gather at the den.   The call begins with a whistle and then something of a bark.

From Wikipedia:  Duplaix identified nine distinct sounds, with further subdivisions possible, depending on context. Quick hahbarks or explosive snorts suggest immediate interest and possible danger. A wavering scream may be used in bluff charges against intruders, while a low growl is used for aggressive warning. Hums and coos are more reassuring within the group. Whistles may be used as advance warning of nonhostile intent between groups, although evidence is limited. Newborn pups squeak to elicit attention, while older young whine and wail when they begin to participate in group activities.^[35] An analysis published in 2014 cataloged 22 distinct types of vocalization in adults and 11 in neonates.^[36] Each family of otters was shown to have its own unique audio signature.^[37] 

On the way back to the hotel, we find another jaguar that is unidentified so far.

 

 

There is a drama playing out in my bathroom.  

 I see a cockroach on its back, waving a front leg and a rear leg.   Ants are attacking it, though they scattered when I turned on the light.

 

I take a piece of toilet paper and hold it above the cockroach’s front leg.   It grabs hold and I move it until it is upright.   It tried to get away, but with only a right front leg and a rear left leg, can only go in circles.

 

I close the bathroom door and leave it to its fate.

***

Some birds to take your mind off the cockroach:

Fork-tailed flycatcher.

Yellow-billed cardinal

Curassow male.

 

Black-capped Donacobius.

Anhinga female or juvenile.