The Canada Otter 821 



and they seem generally to follow beaten paths when moving abun- 

 on land." i^a'^ce 



Possibly each individual has more than one of these routes. 



In Manitoba, the Otter is becoming very scarce; the 

 high value of its fur has told hard against its numbers. In 

 the palmy days at the beginning of last century, Henry col- 

 lected from 100 to 300 skins each year on Red River. The 

 present output of the region is much smaller. 



What, then, should be considered a fair population of 

 Otter? In Essex, Eng. during the fall of 1904, I am told 

 that 50 Otters were killed, though no one but the Otter 

 hunters suspected their presence. As this 50 was far from 

 exterminating them, there were probably at least 100 Otters in 

 Essex, or one to each 16 square miles, and Great Britain, in 

 like ratio, would show a total of 10,000 Otters. This is the 

 reverse of a high rate of population. In Manitoba, they were 

 very common at one time, as already noted, and I think it safe 

 to say that in the primitive days there was an Otter for every 

 5 or 6 square miles, or at the rate of 3 pairs to the township. 

 At present I doubt that there are 300 pairs left in the Province. 



Like the rest of the family, the Otter is neither sociable socia- 



. BILITY 



nor gregarious. The 3 or 4 that are often seen together in late 

 summer are the mother and family. In their curious sport of 

 sliding down hill, we possibly may find an exception to this 

 rule, although some observers consider that the game is strictly 

 an affair of the family or of mates. 



The species makes a variety of noises. It utters a loud sounds, 



. . . ETC. 



sniffing that sounds like clearing its nose of water, and it 

 growls and snarls in menace. A female in the National Zoo 

 at Washington, obtained in northern New York, often emitted 

 a loud birdy chirp to express enquiry, desire, or hunger. Another 

 female that I was sketching at the same time (April 28), made 

 a low chatter or querulous grumble that seemed to express the 

 same idea. The latter was from Florida. 



