Posted on 11/01/2017 7:26:44 PM PDT by nickcarraway
It's something you'll only see in a place like Moss Landing.
A recently-recorded video shows a female sea otter hopping across the road in a crosswalk that is clearly marked as "Sea Otter Xing."
The sea otter crosswalk and traffic speed bump was built across Moss Landing Road in the winter of 2016 because a beloved otter, Mr. Enchilada, was run over by a car. The sea otter's death was witnessed by harbor workers and saddened locals.
But would sea otters would actually know to use their new special crosswalk?
Thanks to volunteers and employees with Sea Otter Savvy, the Monterey Bay Aquarium, and Moss Landing Marine Laboratories, sea otters have been documented using the crosswalk.
Gena Bentall of Sea Otter Savvy shot the video. Watch it above or click here.
She said multiple sea otters regularly use the crosswalk to hop and waddle from the harbor side to the slough side.
While sea otters are beloved for their adorable fuzzy faces, they are also smart, Bentall said.
"They are incredibly clever animals. They don't get (enough) credit for their brains," she said.
About 100-120 sea otters live in Moss Landing and neighboring Elkhorn Slough.
They like to eat clams and crabs in the freshwater slough. There are culverts below Moss Landing Road that allow sea otters to swim from the harbor to the slough, but at high tide, the culverts are closed, and the otters have to walk.
"They are built for being in the water. Their whole body is designed for floating on their backs, so they are not super speedy," Bentall said.
Bentall said the new speed bump has helped slow drivers down as they enter and exit Moss Landing from Highway 1.
So sweet! Then there’s the idiot speeding. Maybe the otter will attack him ; )
Liberals think animals cross where animal crossing signs are placed.
This was apparently a hoax, but when I first heard it I believed it, and it’s hilarious anyway:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOHwwFBYawQ
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I didn’t know that there were ‘land’ crabs, or that they did that!
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Hey maybe deer would do better if their crossings were marked like this!
Our kids gave me a family kayak outing on Elkhoen Slough for Christmas two years ago. We went the day after Christmas and, it being a severe drought year, the weather was glorious — high sixties and clear blue skies.
We saw so many sea otters floating on their backs cracking mollusks and little pups all around. Fantastic wildlife viewing.
If you ever get the chance, tour the slough by kayak. Just be sure to time your trip so you are headed inland on the flood tide. It is HARD work going against the ebb tide.
This is the Sea Otter literacy program finally paying off.
Deer are too stupid to read.
17 mile drive in Monterrey. Otters everywhere and doing what they do best, playing.
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