Otter (Animal)

I'm reading my way through a lot of these Reaktion animal books, and generally enjoying and learning from them a great deal. But on "page" 300 (I'm reading this on my Kindle) of OTTER, Daniel Allen writes that the sea otter is the "only sea mammal". So much for seals, whales and so on. It may be just a badly written sentence, but this should have been caught and corrected long ago, especially since it was published in 2010. I like the book, but unfortunately this has now set me on alert for any other mis-statements. I don't like reading this way.

A relatively slim volume but thoroughly informative and amply illustrated 2010 British publication on otters, mostly of the land variety, with extensive footnote citations and bibliography. It covers otter history, folklore and fables, otters in literature and popular movies, their unhappy relationship with human sport and commercial hunters, and current otter protection and conservation activities in the UK and other parts of the world. A remarkable "little" book, packed with more substance than many larger-sized books which often take up a lot of space for the amount of substance contained therein.

I enjoyed reading this book and I learned a lot about Otters that I didn’t know before!

This is a book for otter fanciers. It is one of the better in the extensive "animal" series. It has a bit of a British flavor. It is written with verve and humor, but also with concern for the animals' future. The illustrations are very good. It includes natural history and species detail, but much of the book discusses otters and humans, including in art and film. Chapters include hunting the otter for sport, hunting the otter for commerce, the literary otter, the otter on screen, and last, protecting the otter.There are more species than I was aware of-thirteen of them!. I found the chapter on sport hunting the otter, which seems to me to be a very British activity, to be the most interesting. It was something like the iconic business of fox hunting, and some dogs were bred specifically to hunt otters. One cause of conflict is that people who fish seem to often hate otters, as competitors for the fish. But some Native Americans saw otters in religious terms. Fishermen in some areas in Asia used trained otters in fishing. And more. Alas, the future of some species is problematic.

Otter explores the interactions between human and otter that have existed for many centuries. Otter hunting for commercial gain and for sport are examined in detail and with historical accuracy. There is also a thorough discussion of the otter presence in human folklore and literature. Allen details many of the well known human-otter stories including Gavin Maxwell's Ring of Bright Water and Henry Williamson's Tarka the Otter, as well as some potentially less known stories like Moses, My Otter by Frances Pitt. The book's final two chapters explore otters in movies and on television, and the importance of protecting otters.Throughout the book, Dr. Allen weaves a web of the human-otter connection that exists and the importance that connection has on humans as well as otters. It is highly recommended to otter novices and aficianados alike!

This book was well written and soooooo interesting! History, Biology, Geography - they are all in there. I love the way that the human interaction with Otters through history is told here. Ive always loved otters but now - far more informed - i love them even more! Dr. Allen clearly has a great love for them too and it shines through in this book. Not too technical and just the right balance for a relaxed read rather than a textbook. great book - a must for animal lovers!

The only thing I knew about Otters before reading this was that , they lived in Holts and were quite cute. This book tells all you need to know about an interesting and elusive creature. Who knew that once they were mistaken for things as strange as Leopards and even a Brontosaur? Nicely presented book too. Look forward to reading more in this series.

I am using this book for reference on my thesis. While it is very informative and academically helpful, it is a great read even if you are just looking to find out more about the otter.

An interesting and informative take on the world of everything Otter. With this book Dr Allen really earns his badge of 'otter expert'! I especially liked otters in the media, bring back find childhood memories.

If you want to know about otter ecology, behaviour etc. you'll have to look somewhere else.Loads of interesting stuff on otter hunting and history but this wasn't what I was looking for . I skimmed through my copy and resold as I didn't think I'd look at it again.