The Canadian Otter. 231 



Ijever saw a dog fonder of a gun than he was of the fishing rod. He would go 

 perhaps a dozen times a day fishing on his own account, always accompanied 

 by a young collie dog, which stood on the top of the boom, watching every 

 movement of his friend among the finny tribe ; before the Otter made a den 

 for himself, the dog and he used to sleep huddled up together as if they 

 belonged to the same litter. 



" I frequently used to cut up a fish into small pieces and throw it off 

 the bridge ; before it reached the water the Otter was on its way towards it 

 as straight as a line, but before he could reach the desired object a number 

 of chub would be contending with eagerness for it. Nekeek soon put an 

 end to the dispute by grabbing the first he could catch ; if the chub escaped, 

 he always seized the piece of fish that was thrown in. In such cases he 

 immediately swam under water, sometimes on his back and sometimes on his 

 feet, but always came on shore to eat his food ; when doing so, he held his 

 head up and shut his eyes, which easily accounts for the success I had in 

 shooting them when eating. "When done fishing he was sure to rub himself 

 upon the carpet if he could get into the house, when he failed in that, he 

 would rub himself against some friend's legs, or on any of the dogs belonging 

 to the place if he could catch them asleep. Nekeek was like many in tlie 

 world, he liad his friends and his enemies ; when he was young he was fed 

 on cow's mill?, and was often favoured with it from the teat ; it was surprising 

 to see how he could catch it in his mouth ; but one cow not relishing such 

 practices, upset both milker and pail, and almost killed his Ottership : after 

 some time he recovered, but never forgot the injury, indeed the feeling 

 appeared to be reciprocal whenever they met, both gave signs of displeasure, 

 *' He commenced to dig a hole in the garden and formed comfortable 

 lodgings under the platform at the door, where he sjDent his nights on a bed 

 of straw which he carried in. 



" Like all other animated things, Nekeek had an end, and like many 

 human beings, he perished in the fluid in which he took greatest delight. — 

 He had some friends about the mills who used to give him an eel for his 

 breakfast, hence he spent a part of his time there, and by some means got 

 into a reaction wheel where he was drowned. Perhaps if the favourite horse 

 or cow had died, there would not have been as much lamentation as there 

 was for poor Nekeek for weeks afterwards. Collie would be seen for hours 

 on the boom looking for his friend." 



The capability of the Otter for domestication, is not confined to the 

 American species. " Goldsmith mentions an Otter which went into a 

 gentleman's pond at the word of command, drove the fish up into a corner, 

 and having seized on the largest, brought it out of the water to its master. 

 Daniel, Bewick, and Shaw, record instances of the animal's docility in this 

 way. Mr. Bell and Mr. McGillivray both corroborate the fact. The latter 

 has collected the following anecdotes : — Mr. McDiarmid, in his amusing 

 ^' Sketches from Nature," gives an account of several domesticated Otters, 

 one of which, belonging to a poor widow, when led forth plunged into the 

 Urr or the neighbouring burns and brought out all the fish it could find. — 



