Ahuizotls can move about on both land and in the water, yet they far prefer the freedom and safety of murky rivers and pools to crawling upon the earth. Leaving the depths only to when shifting to other waterways, when pursuing prey, or when something else on land captures its interest, an ahuizotl spend most of its life lurking just below the surface, watchful for any prey that ventures close enough to grab with its tail and drag down to a drowning death. While capable of surviving in seawater, few ahuizotls have ever been found along the coast; they seem to possess a kind of race-wide aquatic agoraphobia, shunning oceans and seas for more confined and predictable waterways. Occasionally ahuizotls might be found along the coasts of great freshwater lakes, but even then most keep to shallow bays or bayous.