Observations on the otter

An apolitical post derived from the 1969 British film Ring of Bright Water, adapted from a book of that same title by Gavin Maxwell and featuring a magnificent score by the great Frank Cordell. By way of a synopsis: London man in dismal city job buys a pet otter which he names Mij (pronounced "Midge"), ultimately moving with Mij the Otter to a remote corner on the west coast of Scotland. And now to those otterly observations.

The otter. A sort of water-weasel. Playful, nosy, mischievous, rambunctious, and in domestic arrangements tirelessly destructive.  

In water the otter is an expert swimmer and diver; on land it is strong in a squirmy sort of way and swift in a wiggly sort of way. The otter is elongated and can stand tall quite upright on its broad webbed feet and squatty hind legs. Its hands count four fingers and a semi-thumb and are useful mechanically. It is native to the otter to lie on its back, and sometimes to float and more often to sleep on its back. 

The tail of the otter is long and fat, in water powerful and in human habitations destructive. The fur is short, dense, and slick; the otter shakes its fur dry like a dog, or alternately writhes on dry ground. The otter's pin-head features a round little mouth with razor-teeth, a snub nose with whiskers, and intense black eyes. And the otter produces both a grumbling noise and a chirp. 

Also, in the film the aforesaid London man, namely Bill Travers who co-wrote the adaptation with the director Jack Couffer, sometimes walks Mij the Otter on a leash like a dog, and by times Mij sleeps with him like a teddybear. Fine film. They don't make 'em like that anymore, and they can't.