Cute Otter Juggles With Pebble, While Casually Lounging On A Tree Stub

These adorable expert swimmers prove they have some other tricks up their furry sleeves, as they are often observed playing and juggling with stones and pebbles, both in the wild and in ZOOs. There are several videos of their unique juggling technique that you can watch online. Otters have been seen juggling one, two, even three rocks at the same time!

Yet the question as to the reason behind this behavior, its purpose and gain from it remains unanswered. There is a theory that it has something to do with their eating behavior, since otters can also often be seen using rocks to crack shells and reveal the delicious meat inside. There also have been instances of otters defending their ‘tools’ from other otters.

But this guy, he looks like a magician with his enchanted yellow pebble, rolling it around on the tree stub like he is a master busker! He’s not even looking at the stone; he’s just using his front paws to toss it left and right. For a moment there, it even looks like the stone returns to his paws all on its own! Simply marvelous!

Visitors at the Dudley ZOO in the UK had quite the spectacle at the otter enclosure, when they saw the Asian otters laying on their backs in the sun, with rocks in their paws. That wouldn’t be all too unusual, if the otters weren’t juggling with the stones like professional buskers, not dropping their props once!