Karen Wils photo A river otter on the far side of the river ice.

ESCANABA — Otters on ice are a recipe for fun.

Like a mixed drink in a glass tumbler with warm spirits, bubbling fizz, smooth flavor and clinking ice cubes… otter time is chilling time.

Otter’s flow over the snow and ice like a beverage on the rocks in a tall glass. They have paws, tails and whiskers but the rest of them is all mischief.

The gift of the river otter is the champagne of the wilderness. Everything about this creature says “celebrate, be happy.”

Upper Michigan is home to these party animals. Every once and a while folks get to glimpse these semi-aquatic critters at play. Totally at home in the water, or in four feet of snow, or on the muddy riverbank, or on the ice-capped lake, otters are active and enjoy every season of the year.

Otters on ice is my favorite way to watch them. After watching the river ice grow thick on the Escanaba River for many years and watching it break up many spring times, I have come to be in awe of the handsome river otter.

How do they survive such harsh conditions?

River ice is brutally beautiful and unpredictable as it captures and covers the currents, waterfalls, eddies, and the silent backwaters. But the torpedo like river otter can handle the rapids above or below the water. Depths and shallows, rocks, boulders, ice covered or open waters, the otter is out there finding food and playing in its water-wonderland.

Many times, in a bend in the river, I have seen the tell-tale slide marks of an otter belly surfing into a small hole in the ice. On the other side of the river, there the head of a trout laying in the snow.

Otters eat fish. It is what their streamlined bodies and webbed toes are designed to do. If you watch where the otters feed in the wintertime, come summertime these honey-holes are a good place for fly fishermen and women to fish.

River otters know their territory well. They typically do not over fish an area. Clams, crayfish, frogs, mice, salamanders and the eggs of ground nesting birds are also on the otter’s menu of good eats.

Otters are members of the weasel family (Mustelidae). They are a rich dark brown color with gray under parts. Their dense coat has a natural oil to waterproof the animal, and a layer of fat insulates it from the cold. Otter ears and noses have a shut off valve to keep the water out while diving.

Otter pelts were important back in the early fur trading days in the Great Lakes region, but never as valuable as the beaver furs.

This winter has seen some otter activity right here in Escanaba. Otters caught on camera playing in the fluffy snow have delighted most Yoopers.

Otter videos are now popular entertainment on Facebook and YouTube.

Like an oven fresh pastie, maple syrup or homemade wine, otters are an Upper Michigan treasure.

Watch for otters on your ice, relax and smile. Have a fun weekend.

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Karen (Rose) Wils is a lifelong north Escanaba resident. Her folksy columns appear weekly in Lifestyles.