An adult male otter in a brownish-gray coat resting indoors with blue upholstered ottoman, wooden side table, and light-colored carpeted floor. Daytime natural light illuminates the scene. 4:45
KOTSUMET channel icon KOTSUMETOriginal creator 40M views Save

Pet otters meet a rug that looks like a hole

A rug at the foot of the stairs is printed to look like a hole in the floor. Kotaro and Hana, two pet otters in Japan, stop short and think it over. more

Kotaro goes first, but not across. He walks the rim of the rug like a ledge, as if the middle might not hold him. Hana comes down behind him and starts out just as careful, keeping to the edge.

That does not last. Hana is the first to decide that a hole you can stand on is not a hole, and she walks onto the rug and starts to play. Kotaro isn't ready to agree. At one point one of the otters stands up on two legs on a checkered mat, front paws raised, and looks up.

An otter stands upright on a black and white checkered mat with front paws raised, looking up. A headline runs in white letters across the lower third.Save
Up on two legs, one of the otters looks over the strange floor.

Then comes the test. The otters lift the edge of the rug to see whether the hole goes anywhere. It does not. Once that's settled the sinkhole turns into a playground, and Kotaro romps over the same spot he tiptoed around at first.

You could argue it either way. Kotaro treats a hole like a hole until he has proof, which is the careful kind of smart. Hana looks at the same floor and sees a rug, which is the other kind. Fans of the pair still can't agree on who got it right.

An adult male otter in a brownish-gray coat resting indoors with blue upholstered ottoman, wooden side table, and light-colored carpeted floor. Daytime natural light illuminates the scene. The headline runs in white letters across the lower third.Save
A rug at the foot of the stairs is printed to look like a hole in the floor.

Round two is a rug in the shape of a cat, and this one gets Kotaro. The sinkhole took him a slow lap and a close look to work out. The cat spooks him in an instant.

Kotaro checks everything twice. Hana checks once, if that, and goes back to playing. Both of them end up on the rug.