iN PHOTOS: Otters play, roll and snooze on winter day in Shuswap

A family of river otters were the subject of photo shoot in Eagle Bay on Shuswap Lake late last week. Photographer Ann Steenhuysen captured the otters playing and lazing on a dock on a wet, winter day, Feb. 7, snuggling and rolling around with one another. “I saw something in the water and focused a bit more because it looked like logs at first,” she said. “My partner got the binoculars out and said ‘hey Ann, there are otters, three of them.” Steenhuysen got ahead of the otters in her truck and parked, noticing a platform in the water. “Sure enough they decided to climb up on it and I quietly walked over to the rocky beach,” she said. “I kept snapping photos and watched them frolic with each other. They didn’t even notice me until I said ‘thank you’ out loud and they looked up, and I got the best images ever.” River otters can be found in bodies of water all over the province. Though arguable very cute, the animals are known to be mischievous and often aggressive. https://infotel.ca/newsitem/everything-you-need-to-know-about-river-otters-in-the-thompson-okanagan/it102275 Part of the weasel family, river otters can grow to over a metre in length and are agile and adept swimmers, feeding on fish, birds and mammals. They stay active during the winter and are able to keep warm with their incredibly dense coats. If you have photos of wildlife you want to share with us, send them to news@infonews.ca. To contact a reporter for this story, email Shannon Ainslie mailto:sainslie@infonews.ca  or call 250-819-6089 or email the editor mailto:news@infonews.ca . You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom mailto:tips@infonews.ca  and be entered to win a monthly prize draw. We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above. SUBSCRIBE to our awesome newsletter here https://infotel.ca/newsletter .