BEARS 0/ 



beautiful things to delight our eyes. A policy of 

 'live and let live' is without doubt the correct one, 

 though the man of narrow views is ever with us/' 



This seems to be the attitude of the true naturalist 

 and sportsman, and the policy, one, we should do well 

 to adopt towards all our fellow creatures. It means 

 that we must learn to know the ways and habits of 

 living things, and that the true naturalist will always 

 pause to consider the relation of any living thing to 

 the economy of Nature before taking its life. 



Otters hunt by scent and can smell a fish or an 

 eel under water. They can keep under water with- 

 out coming up to breathe a very long time, but I can 

 nowhere find the record of any observations as to the 

 length of time they can go without taking breath. 

 They hunt fish under the ice, but will seek cracks in 

 its surface at which to come for breath. 



The young are born with soft silky coats and 

 blind. There are usually two or three in the litter, 

 and though the mother early accustoms them to 

 water, swimming about with a cub in her mouth 

 entirely immersed in the water, they all have to be 

 taught by their parents to swim. At first they take 

 a ride on their mother's back, and then they are 

 reluctantly induced to try to copy their mother's 

 movements in the water ; after that comes the diving 

 lesson, and then, as the young ones gain skill and 

 courage, the first hunt for eels, a very favourite food 

 with otters, is undertaken. 



Otter hunting is a very ancient sport, and, if the 

 animal is hunted with a pack of hounds, no unfair 

 advantage is taken of it, for the otter is a fierce and 



