142 



MAMMALS OF AMERICA 



Sea Otter, which they were at first willing to 

 sell for a mere trifle, esteeming these skins 

 much less than they did those of the fur-seals. 

 Again, when the Prybiloff Islands, situated in 

 Behring Sea to the eastward of the Aleutians, 

 were first discovered, upwards of five thousand 

 skins of this species were taken in the first 

 season, with the result that in six years these 

 animals had completely disappeared from the 

 islands. Nearly the same story is told in all the 

 haunts of the Sea Otter, which has now become 

 a very rare animal indeed, and stands in sore 

 need of protection if it is to escape total exter- 

 mination. 



Mr. H.W. Elliott, states that "over two-thirds 

 of all the Sea Otters taken in Alaska are secured 

 in two small areas of water, little rocky islets 

 and reefs around the islands of Saanach and 

 Chernobours, which proves that these animals. 



live without its mother, though frequent attempts 

 have been made by the natives to raise them, as 

 they often capture them alive, but, like some 

 other species of wild animals, it seems to be so 

 deeply imbued with fear of man that it invari- 

 ably dies from self-imposed starvation." 



The remarkable difference in the structure of 

 the cheek-teeth of the Sea Otter from those of 

 the true Otter clearly indicates that there must 

 be an equally marked difference in the food of 

 the two ; and the rounded prominences on the 

 crowns of those of the present species would 

 further suggest that they were adapted for 

 pounding and crushing hard substances. As a 

 matter of fact. Mr. Elliot tells us that the food 

 of the Sea Otters " is almost entirely composed 

 of clams, mussels, and sea-urchins, of which 

 they are very fond, and which they break by 

 striking the shells together, held in each fore- 



SEA OTTER 



The fur of this animal is so valuable that it is in danger of extinc- 

 tion from over-hunting 



in spite of the incessant hunting all the year 

 round on this ground, seem to have some parti- 

 cular preference for it, to the practical exclusion 

 of nearly all the rest of the territory. This may 

 be due to its better adaptation as a breeding- 

 ground." A similar preference is also shown for 

 a small area in the neighborhood of Gray's Har- 

 bor, over the whole of the remainder of the 

 coast of \\'ashington and Oregon. 



The female Sea Otter produces but a single 

 young one at a birth, so that the increase of the 

 species can be, at best, but slow. The young may 

 apparently be born at any season of the year, 

 and do not attain maturity till four or five years 

 old. Writing of the general habits of the 

 species, Mr. Elliot observes that the " mother 

 sleeps in the water on her back, with her young 

 clasped between her fore-paws. The pup cannot 



paw, sucking out the contents as they are frac- 

 tured by these efforts ; they also undoubtedly 

 eat crabs, and the juicy tender fronds of kelp 

 or sea-weed and fi,-.h." 



The flesh of the Sea Otter is very unpalatable, 

 highly charged with a rank smell and flavor. 



Old hunters assert that they have watched the 

 Sea Otter for half an hour at a time as it lay 

 upon its back in the water and tossed a piece of 

 sea-weed up in the air from paw to paw, a])par- 

 ently taking great delight in catching it before 

 it could fall into the water. It will also play with 

 its young for hours. 



The quick hearing and acute smell possessed 

 by the Sea Otter arc not equaled by any other 

 creatures in the territory. They will take alarm 

 and leave from the effects of a small fire four or 

 five miles to the windward of them ; and the 



