60 MAMMALS. 



quarters, yet at no season is it torpid, in this country at 

 least, in the true sense of the word. The prevailing colour 

 of the badger is reddish -brown, with white streaks and 

 white stripes on the face. Unless, however, the observer 

 is close, the animal looks uniform grey. 



We have in the Otter another much persecuted member 

 of the family, for which, although perhaps the most beau- 

 tiful of our surviving quadrupeds, even its 

 admirers cannot in lairness claim innocence 

 of the charges brought against it. In the fox we had 

 a beast preserved, notwithstanding the hatred of the 

 farmer, for the sake of sport. In the otter we find a 

 curious contradiction, for whereas it affords sj^ort to a 

 limited number of enthusiasts, it equally spoils the pros- 

 pects of many a good salmon-stream. In consequence, it 

 is mercilessly slaughtered, and the most one can hope for 

 is, that it shall be killed in a manner worthy such a sport- 

 ing beast, and not trapped or j)oisoned. To those who 

 have no such direct interest in the stock of the rivers, few 

 creatures lend more enchantment to the scene ; and there is 

 that in the otter's fiute-like whistle that makes the angler, 

 if he be not the veriest pot-hunter, pause and listen. 



The distribution of the otter throughout these islands is 



universal. Pollution has driven it from some rivers where 



it was formerly plentiful, and the draining of the fens has 



sent it to the Broads ; but it still flourishes in most parts 



of Great Britain and Ireland, on the wilder coasts of 



which, especially down in the west, otters remain alto- 



^. , ., , . erether, seldom revertinsf to the inland waters. 

 Distribution. 2,, c ^ c i • i 



These must not, of course, be confused with 



the larger (and generically distinct) sea-otter of the North 



Pacific. Otters are particularly abundant in the lochs and 



streams of the Scotch isles, in writing of which Harvie- 



Brown and Buckley ^ give a spirited account of the 



animal's " holt," as its lair in the bank is called. 



1 Fauna ol' Argyll, p. 17. 



