In YouTube Right Now, the Daily Dot looks at videos that catch our eyes, push our buttons, and move our dials—and that you’ve just got to watch.
Five years ago, Rio, a beagle mix, befriended a river otter.
Their friendship, recorded on video, made Internet history over the weekend.
Originally filmed in 2007 in Jacksonville, Florida, the one-minute video of the duo romping in the grass was rediscovered by maxmtl11, a user of the social news site Reddit, on Saturday. Once the video, “Rio and the River Otter,” gathered enough votes and comments to hit the front page, views shot from 80,000 to more than 400,000.
The river otter came by and visited every day for a couple of months, according to the description by the original video uploader, sasslang.
“As for the otter, he came to play for several months, and then one day just didn’t show up,” wrote sasslang in response to YouTube queries. “It was a special time and love that we can still enjoy the time via the video.”
Redditors and YouTubers, delighted by the odd friendship, grew sad at the prospect of the otter’s death.
“But now he lives forever on YouTube, and in the the hearts of children,” mocotazo offered in an attempt to console fellow redditors.
Other Internet citizens saw the video as a modern fable.
“Perhaps various ethnic groups could learn from these two friends,” wrote YouTuber barbarameagher.