But if (as I believe to be the case) the goal in heraldic art is to emphasize the essence of the charge, what is more "otterly" than a single otter floating on its bach holding stuff in its little paws?

"Wouldn’t it be otterly…"

Just thinking… maybe my badge could have an otter holding something?

Linusboarder wrote:

Just thinking… maybe my badge could have an otter holding something?

I suggest a trout in the paws of the otter. The trout, after all, was the preferred food of the otter and it was its predation upon trout stocks that brought it into conflict with man. Consider this very Medieval style badge blazon: On a ground Vert, an otter couchant Sable grasping a trout Argent.