Urban Wildlife in Minneapolis

The weather is so mild for this time of year, we had to take a walk. It's a little over 3 miles around a lake in the middle of the city. We went clockwise. Heading in the other direction, we passed lots of folks walking, running, on skates, bikes, skateboards, skate-skis (no snow yet), in strollers, and on the ends of leashes. On the other ends were a parade of dogs: dachshunds, Great Danes, Scotties (black and white--or are those Westies?) a Pug, a few Huskies, your garden-variety yellow lab, Cocker Spaniels, a Standard Poodle, a Collie, the smallest Yorkie in existence, more we can't remember. In the water there were Canadian geese, mallards, and some coots. Seagulls at the end of a dock seemed to be plotting something (I've never been fond of those birds). We caught fragments of conversations, some in languages other than English. About two-thirds of the way around, we saw a creature swimming toward shore. It wasn't a bird, and didn't look like a dog. Not a turtle either, there was some kind of motion in the water behind its head that indicated paws or a tail. Beaver? as it approached, with a mouthful of bright green weeds, we realized it was an otter. It wasn't very large. We were standing at a site where the lake water entered an underground passage to a nearby lake or a creek, and it ducked and swam in. What a marvelous surprise!