Adorable otter chaos has been unfolding on an Ontario lake

Toronto has its fair share of rambunctious raccoons and curious coyotes, but if you're looking for more thrilling wildlife, you're going to want to head to northwestern Ontario. 

One area in particular, Lac des Mille Lacs (French for "lake of a thousand lakes"), has proven to be a hotspot for otter encounters, and multiple residents have captured recent videos of their encounters with the semiaquatic mammals.

Bruce Browne tells blogTO he was taken by surprise when he caught an otter weaving in and out of the water during a routine ice fishing trip. The crafty little swimmer, which Browne named Whiskers, was popping in and out of an ice fishing hole drilled beneath his shack on the lake, 117 kilometres northwest of Thunder Bay.

He filmed the encounter, and his wife, thrilled by the sight, immediately shared the video on Facebook, where it has been warming hearts through the winter cold.

Browne, who has lived in Thunder Bay his entire life, says he's never come across an otter in the winter until this year.

"I was so excited! It's so rare to see them. You're very lucky to see one in your lifetime," he explains. In the summer, he might catch a glimpse of one or two jumping and swimming in the water.

Living in Thunder Bay, Browne says, is like having nature in your own backyard. Aside from the usual deer, he'll sometimes spot bears, moose and even lynx. 

Another man had a similar encounter with an otter while driving his truck out on Lac des Mille Lacs in search of a place to fish.

Thunder Bay resident Don Hamilton tells blogTO that at first, he wasn't quite sure what he was seeing.

"I was just pulling up to a place to fish, and I had my puppy with me, so I'm trying to hold him down. And as soon as I saw the otter, I thought, 'Oh, there's another dog there on the loose.'"

Once Hamilton realized what animal it was, he whipped out his camera and started recording the otter running up to him for an up-close-and-personal encounter.

But this wasn't Hamilton's first encounter with a charming yet mischievous otter. Once, he found one at the bottom of his fish basket.

"He had wrapped both of his legs around the two by four of the dock, and I was having a tug of war with the otter over a fish basket," he says. 

And, like Browne, he's had his share of other thrilling wildlife moments in Thunder Bay, including a few years ago when two lynx were just playing around in front of his truck. Unfortunately, he didn't have his camera on hand to capture that moment.

It's stories like these that make you appreciate just how lucky we are to call this province home. For Toronto folks so accustomed to the limited wildlife of city life, it's a reminder that it's worth venturing out to explore the stunning natural beauty Ontario has to offer.