Four playful adult otters with brown fur and white underbellies interacting in an ice-filled container within a zoo enclosure, surrounded by rocks, logs, water, greenery, and bright daylight. 2:32
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River otters cram into one bucket of ice

Give a few river otters a container full of ice and stand back. At the Oregon Zoo, that's all it takes to make a very good day. more

The otters are brown with pale bellies, and their yard has rocks, logs, water and plenty of green. None of it gets a second look. Every one of them wants the ice.

At one point an otter sits on the ice, fur soaked and mouth open, and looks straight up at the camera. It could be a grimace. It could be plain surprise that anyone is watching.

An otter with wet fur and an open mouth sits on ice near water, looking up toward the camera. A headline runs in white letters across the lower third.Save
Mid-play, one soaked otter sits on the ice and looks straight up, mouth open.

Two of them take a breather at the edge of the water, among loose chunks of ice. One is half in the water, and both are dripping.

Two wet otters rest near water with chunks of ice around them, one partly under the water. A headline runs in white letters across the lower third.Save
Two otters take a breather at the pool's edge, among the loose chunks of ice.

The breaks never last. The otters writhe and grapple in the ice, climbing over one another, and there always seems to be room for one more body. A good number of people are amazed at how many of them fit.

Some dig in as if they want to bury themselves in the cubes. Others would rather eat them. One otter crunches a whole mouthful of ice, and that crunch is the sound people bring up again and again. More than a few admit it makes them want to chew ice too.

Four playful adult otters with brown fur and white underbellies interacting in an ice-filled container within a zoo enclosure, surrounded by rocks, logs, water, greenery, and bright daylight. The headline runs in white letters across the lower third.Save
Give a few river otters a container full of ice and stand back.

There's talk of a bigger bowl. Judging by the way these otters pack into this one, it would fill up just as fast.