Happy. Birthday. Christopher. Walken.

The otter-conscious* acting powerhouse that is Christopher Walken turns 67 today. A keen practical joker (apparently when he stays at a hotel, he likes to dress up as an elevator operator and freak people out in the lift when they see Christopher Walken is working the buttons) we’ve always loved the man. Here’s one of our favourite Walken moments:

-

emailer writes:
“A friend of mine, while a bit drunk, ran into Christopher Walken in Manhattan. He stopped the actor, and told him how much he loves his movies and how cool he is. Then he asked Christopher Walken to say a line from one of his movies. Walken looked at him, stony-faced.  The drunk insisted.  So Walken said, “OK, a line from one of my movies.  Let me see. How about…’Go fuck yourself’.”

-

* If you’re wondering what on earth we mean by that, the reason Christopher Walken gives  for not buying vine-ripened tomatoes is this – “I DON’T. Buy the tomatoes with. The stems. On them. They don’t. Degrade. They go. Down the sink. And into the WATER. Then. They get lodged in the throats of little. OTTERS.”

River otters play piano duet

Otter in teenage strop shocka!

“This tree climbing otter isn’t playing around – she’s just being a stroppy teenager, experts revealed today.

Wildlife experts said it was “very unusual” to see the creatures scrambling up branches. And staff at the Slimbridge Wetland Centre in Gloucestershire said Mo the otter may have been “flexing her teenage muscles”.

Slimbridge spokeswoman Sally Munro said: “It’s the otter equivalent of stomping upstairs to your room and slamming the door.”

The centre’s mammal manager, John Crooks, said: “This is certainly very unusual behaviour for an otter, but I think maybe she is going through some kind of teenage rebellion.”

The Sun

(thanks to: sgtpeppersstoneyhardcoreband for the tip-off)

Otterly amazing – Halloween at the Zoo

This week is “Boo at the Zoo!” at Whipsnade zoo. On Otter Island, five of the males have their favourite meat treats hidden inside these pumpkin lanterns and visitors can watch them scavenge for the treats.

Apparently its good for their health - Otter keeper Alex Pinnell said: “They use their sense of smell first and once they realise there’s food inside they use their paws – which are really sensitive – to play with the pumpkins and forage for the meat inside with their claws. It’s a great enrichment activity for them.”

There’s only one thing cuter than otters digging into pumpkins, and that’s lion cubs:

You can see the lions eating pumpkins at London Zoo. The keepers are hiding the food around the lion’s enclosure so the cubs hunt for it. Head Keeper Tracey Lee said: “The cubs are really mischievous animals and I’m sure they loved having something new to investigate.”

FYI: Lemurs are known as the “ghosts of Madagascar”

London lions go Boo at the Zoo

Whipsnade otters go Boo at the Zoo

Otter Saturday

We’ve seen it all before, but some of you may not have come across this little scamp:

Otter Monday

From the Otter Family Album

Stop: Otter Time!

I’m sure we’ve had this before but what the heck, they’re amazing:

(thanks: relief_organist)

Otters are nice

This otter at Chester Zoo is juggling with his/her favourite stones on a hot day while all the other zoo animals are sleeping. 

(Thanks: Liz from Wirral)

Shrimp or Herring?

(Thanks to quercusmarner) 

For more animal trivia, stories and otter fun, visit the popbitch messageboard.

Terry Nutkins is back!

Britain’s premier otter advocate is returning to our screens in the spring with BBC Three’s ‘My Life As An Animal’; offering sage advice to a group of humans preparing to eat, sleep and poo with horses, seals, and penguins, in order to ‘better understand animals’.

Although Terry’s two missing digits are the result of an unprovoked otter attack, he still continues to champion their preservation.

Miss Marzipan writes:
“Aged 17, I appeared on a kid’s TV show alongside,
among various others, animal enthusiast Terry
Nutkins. Afterwards, we went backstage, and
Nutkins tucked into the Green Room booze.

“Later, having eyed up me and my friend for a
while, he came over, and showed us his belt. It
featured a huge custom-made silver buckle – in the
shape of an otter dancing under a full moon.

“Buckle in hand, Nutkins then uttered the immortal
words: ‘Do you want to touch my otter?’”