Maryland’s 498 North American river otter records spread across the state’s waters, from Baltimore County’s streams and reservoirs, which lead the state with 196, down through the tidal creeks around Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Historical Park on the Eastern Shore to the Potomac’s banks along the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park.
A fish hunter in every kind of water
River otters take fish, crayfish, frogs, and the occasional waterbird, hunting by sight and touch in everything from farm ponds to brackish Chesapeake tributaries. They are tireless travelers, and a family group can work miles of shoreline in a night. They leave more sign than sightings: slides worn into muddy banks, opened mussel shells, and the communal latrines where otters deposit spraint to read one another’s news.
Busiest when other animals lie low
The record peaks in January, February, and April. Otters do not hibernate or even slow much for winter. They fish open leads in iced-over marshes and travel overland between frozen waters, and their dark bodies and trough-like trails stand out against snow, which makes the coldest months some of the best for finding them.
Status in Maryland
NatureServe ranks the North American river otter S5, Secure, in Maryland, and the species is native to the state. USGS NAS does not list it as nonindigenous here.
