So, you've seen the footage of a group of otters supposedly messing around with a crocodile at Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve?

Well, it turns out, this sort of behaviour is typical of smaller animals as they are calling attention to a larger predator in their vicinity as a warning to others.

In 2014, a high-definition close-up video showed a pair of otters confronting a crocodile at Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve:

The crocodile, estimated to be about two metres long, can be seen lunging at one of the otters that came directly in front of its snout.

After a minute of taunting, the otters made their way out of there.

In 2015, another close-up video showed otters circling a crocodile in the water, as they exhibited the same kind of taunting behaviour:

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According to one Mothership reader, Ivan Kwan, this type of behvaiour exhibited by potential prey can be seen in many other species as well, such as squirrels and macaques:

This is known as mobbing, where several individual animals gang up to confront and disturb a potential predator. This serves to alert other animals in the area of the presence of a predator, and is also an attempt to force the predator to move on. In this case, a family of otters is actively mobbing a crocodile and trying to get it to leave their immediate vicinity. In other environments, you will sometimes see squirrels and small birds deliberately mobbing a snake or bird of prey.

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Cheeky otters messing around with crocodile at Sungei Buloh