S'pore adult otters pull juvenile otters up ledge in cat burglar move, but almost leaves last fellow behind

You don't need a ladder when you have family.

Zi Shan Kow | August 20, 2021, 01:36 PM

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Team work makes the dream work -- especially so for highly sociable otters.

A video taken of a group of five otters scaling a high ledge together in Singapore is the epitome of family who got your back.

The video showed two larger otters that had already found their way up the ledge having to help three juvenile otters scale the wall.

The first two juvenile otters made the manoeuvre appear easy enough.

The otters at the top of the ledge used their mouths to grab hold of the whiskers of the smaller otters that were extended towards the top of the ledge, before hauling them over without much difficulty.

Last otter stranded

However, the fifth member of the team that scooted off on its own momentarily, suddenly found itself stranded at the bottom as the four otters that had made their way up the ledge ran off.

Steady pom pi pi. Video from Nature Society (Singapore)/FB.

For a brief moment, the rest of the group appeared to have forgotten about the last otter.

But it appeared the squeaks amongst the otters didn't go unnoticed, as the four otters returned to retrieve the last member of the group that had not made it up the ledge.

Sometimes friends make mistakes too. Video from Nature Society (Singapore)/FB.

Mistimed jumps

Repeatedly throwing itself up against the wall, almost as if it was panicking at this point, the last otter at the bottom struggled to get a grip on the larger otters at the top.

The stranded otter's repeated jumps were repeatedly mistimed, resulting in a failure to make any contact with the larger otters at the top.

Eventually made it

A handful more tries later, the otter was eventually caught in the mouth of one of the larger otters and hauled over the top of the ledge.

With the dream team back together, they headed off for their next adventure.

Leave no otter behind. Video from Nature Society (Singapore)/FB.

The antics of the otter family was met with ooh-ing and ah-ing off-camera by bystanders.

Like a bunch of recruits

Some online commenters also found the scene reminiscent of their days at the Standard Obstacle Course during Basic Military Training.

One of the obstacles is the high wall.

Screenshot from Nature Society (Singapore)/FB.

Screenshot from Nature Society (Singapore)/FB.

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Top image via Nature Society (Singapore)/FB.