CARNTVORA : OTTERS. 



89 



western portions of the country, and its body is a little 

 less than two feet long, and the general color is grayish. 

 Badgers live in burrows, and dig with astonishing rapidity. 

 The Otters have a flat head, elongated body, short, pal- 

 mated feet, and depressed tail. They are aquatic, and 

 feed upon fish, which they pursue with such dexterity that 

 few are swift enough to elude them. Otters have a singu- 

 lar and amusing habit of sporting. Selecting a bank of 

 snow in winter, or a clayey bank in summer, they scramble 



FIG. 91. 



American Otter, Lutra canadensis, Sabine. 



to the top, and then slide head foremost to the bottom. If 

 their sliding-place leads into the river, as is generally the 

 case, they go plump into the water, whence they quickly 

 come forth again to repeat an operation which evidently 

 gives them great satisfaction. The American Otter is 

 about three feet long to the tail, and the color is brown 

 above, slightly lighter beneath ; and the fur is of two 

 kinds, one long, somewhat coarse, and scattered, the other 

 shorter, fine, and dense. 



