Sliding Behavior in Nearctic River Otters: Locomotion or Play?

Abstract The popular literature often depicts river otters as extremely playful. However, some researchers have suggested that, contrary to popular belief, the much-noted sliding behavior of river otters is only a form of locomotion, not a form of play. While using remote video cameras to monitor a population of river otters reintroduced to the Youghiogheny River in southwestern Pennsylvania, we obtained a video of three otters sliding across a snow-covered surface. Collectively, the otters slid 16 times for a total of 53 seconds. Based on established definitions of animal play, our observation supports the popular notion that sliding can be play behavior in wild river otters.