NATURAL HISTORY OF SOUTH AFRICA 



quence of its webbed feet and comparatively slender 

 body, this otter is specially adapted for an aquatic 

 life. It can swim and dive with the greatest of 

 ease and grace, and is exceedingly swift and agile 

 in the water, turning and doubling in an amazing 

 manner when in pursuit of fish, which are 

 hunted down in couples, or parties composed of 

 the parents and immature young. Two to three 

 seem to be the average number of cubs at a birth. 

 One, which my taxidermist dissected, contained 

 two embryos. 



The Spotted-necked Otter is usually found along 

 the banks of the permanently flowing rivers, and in 

 ponds which do not dry up during times of drought. 

 It is nocturnal by habit, but, like its clawless and 

 webless cousin, it ventures forth in secluded 

 localities early in the afternoons and on cloudy 

 days. Occasionally in Natal I have seen pairs of 

 them basking in the sun on the river bank during 

 the winter months. The instant they were ob- 

 served they tumbled headlong into the water and 

 vanished, probably to reappear under cover of the 

 rushes and reeds on the opposite bank. The diet 

 of this otter consists largely of fish ; but fresh- water 

 crabs form no inconsiderable proportion of its 

 food. Like the other species, it preys on a variety 

 of creatures, including the Monitor Lizard, frogs, 

 water-tortoises, aquatic birds, their young, and eggs. 



I have never seen these otters except in the 

 immediate neighbourhood of water, into which they 



140 



