In The News – River Otters: Larger than thought, feistier than expected, and definitely in Lake Tahoe
September 2, 2026 | Member Submitted
Originally published in the Tahoe Daily Tribune, 9/2/2026, Sarah Hockensmith | Tahoe Institute for Natural Science (TINS)
When you think of a badger or a wolverine, you probably picture a fierce, powerful predator and you’d be right. These tough mammals are part of the family Mustelidae, the weasels, and can occasionally be found in Tahoe alongside several other members of the weasel family. The longest of them all, with some adults reaching four feet in length, is the River Otter, which has certainly been making headlines lately.
The Tahoe region is home, at least occasionally, to seven species of mustelids, including not only the aforementioned North American River Otter, American Badger, and Wolverine but also their cousins, the Long-tailed Weasel, American Short-tailed Weasel, American Mink, and Pacific Marten. Some of these animals can look quite similar, while others appear very different from one another, but they all share characteristics typical of the family: elongated bodies, relatively short legs, small rounded ears, short skulls, and dense fur. Depending on the species, mustelids can be terrestrial, arboreal, or aquatic, with river otters and mink particularly well adapted to life in and around water.