Bingo the Otter

November 2, 2018 4:33 PM

【DIY】Plastic bottle shower for otter bingo - An admirable mix of DIY, bathtime fun, and an otter (Bingo).
posted by joseph conrad is fully awesome (19 comments total)

Bonus Bingo: this one with the water slide is quite good, particularly when the ice cubes are added. I'm not sure why they have an otter in what appears to be a domestic setting.
posted by joseph conrad is fully awesome at 4:34 PM on November 2, 2018 [4 favorites]

Why is this animal being tortured? There is absolutely no reason for the human not to sit there with a spray gun hooked up to a faucet for hours and hours, day after day. All it wants is more water. How much? More. As humans, it's incumbent upon all of us to help ensure this happens.

And can I have an otter? What if I move to Japan? Or anywhere else? Does Purina make Otter Chow? Do they know their names? Do they cuddle in front of the TV?
posted by rhizome at 5:29 PM on November 2, 2018 [10 favorites]

Awwwwww.

Our cat is about the same size and colour. I could take her into the shower with me! Yeah. That's the ticket.
posted by Artful Codger at 6:35 PM on November 2, 2018 [5 favorites]

Otters in the wild will have territories up to 20 kilometres of river, so keeping one in a domestic situation just seems cruel.

Then again, keeping humans in apartments also seems cruel.
posted by happyinmotion at 6:42 PM on November 2, 2018 [5 favorites]

I have a Maine Coon kitty, and I have water bottles, and I have drill bits of varying sizes, and I now have plans for my weekend.
posted by mudpuppie at 7:45 PM on November 2, 2018 [7 favorites]

Otto is a squeaky bitey wrecking ball.
posted by CynicalKnight at 7:51 PM on November 2, 2018 [4 favorites]

I’m with rhizome, and think a small recirculating pump is called for here. Why should Bingo be forced to go chasing waterfalls when he/she could be enjoying a constant drizzle of happiness?
posted by darkstar at 8:07 PM on November 2, 2018

Exactly. Bingo should just stick to the rivers and the lakes he’s used to.
posted by mochapickle at 10:28 PM on November 2, 2018 [15 favorites]

At about 2 minutes in, and again at about 3:30, Bingo sneezes!

(Public service announcement)
posted by lollusc at 10:29 PM on November 2, 2018 [7 favorites]

Bingo has zero chill. I am Bingo.
posted by fiercekitten at 10:43 PM on November 2, 2018 [1 favorite]

I have no idea how these people got an otter wedged into their apartment, or why.
posted by We had a deal, Kyle at 11:29 PM on November 2, 2018 [3 favorites]

This video covered all the parts I already know (how to put holes in plastic bottles) and none of the parts I need (how to get an otter). I’m curious also what it is that Bingo wants, there’s an obvious state they are trying to achieve, is it for a water drop to go in their ear? Looks like.
posted by Iteki at 3:11 AM on November 3, 2018 [6 favorites]

For when you ought'er water yer otter
posted by arto at 4:54 AM on November 3, 2018 [3 favorites]

Were I to suddenly acquire a pet otter, instantly all my reserves of money and time would be spent on redoing my whole home and life around it, and that would still be not enough to give it the life it should have. It's a river otter. It needs a goddamn RIVER, not a bottle with holes punched in it.
posted by The otter lady at 7:38 AM on November 3, 2018 [9 favorites]

What this video doesn't show you is the little bastard shitting all over your boat, leaving turds that smell worse than the Devil's tonsil stones.
posted by humboldt32 at 9:25 AM on November 3, 2018 [1 favorite]

I’m often torn in the debate about whether animals are just better off in the wild. Don’t get me wrong: it’s clearly better to have more freedom of space than less, and to be able to feel the wind in your fur, the grass under your paws, the sun on your face, and a river to swim in.

And yet...

And yet I then think that an otter in the wild has to work, work, work every day of its life for sustenance, until the day it dies. And maybe the reason it has such a large range is because it has to, in order to find adequate food. And how it’s constantly at threat from predation and injury.

So I think that, if I were an otter, that no...I definitely wouldn’t want to be cooped up in an apartment with a tiny tub to splash in, and a measly water bottle spritzing when my human was in a playful mood.

But...a large back yard, maybe with an acre or two to roam, and a flowing, fish-stocked brook/pond, maybe with a waterfall, constructed and maintained by humans that kept me safe, cleaned up after me, and offered me treats and tummy rubs and such...well, that might not be so bad, really.
posted by darkstar at 10:00 AM on November 3, 2018 [5 favorites]

rhizome: Does Purina make Otter Chow?

Apparently.
posted by Vesihiisi at 11:58 PM on November 3, 2018 [3 favorites]

An aside - Yeah we've seen sea otters during a trip to Monterey CA (in the bay, and in their excellent aquarium) , but it was only this year that we actually saw 3 wild otters in eastern Ontario (Mazinaw Lake). So cool.
posted by Artful Codger at 7:31 AM on November 4, 2018

Spoilers/warning Very SAD ending. Worth turning off before it ends, also there is whale hunting- end Spoilers

Ring of Bright Water is a bit like this- a man sees an otter in a pet shop, but then realises that a London apartment isn't the best home for an otter, so he moves to Scotland.
posted by freethefeet at 6:25 PM on November 4, 2018