HABITS OF OTTERS. 313 



cies from Costa Rica,* which is considerably beyond the usually 

 recognized range of true canadensis^ the actual occurrence of 

 which so far south may possibly be still open to question. 

 With this single exception, I do not know of, at least I do not 

 recall at present writing, any special indication of the presence 

 of L. canadensis proper south of the United States, though in a 

 general way it has been often accredited with a range coexten- 

 sive with the continent of Xorth America, and has even been 

 ascribed, with a query, to South America. 



Habits of Otters, 



Although I have observed the "seal"' of the Otter and its 

 curious " slides" in various parts of our country during the years 

 I have been a student of oar animals, I cannot truly aver that 

 I have ever laid eyes upon a living individual ; and to speak 

 of its habits, I must give information at second hand. Pre- 

 suming upon the reader's knowledge of the thoroughly aquatic 

 and highly piscivorous nature of the animal, I turn to the vari- 

 ous histories at our disposal in further elucidation of its habits. 



According to Richardson, one of the earliest authors giving 

 accounts of the species with precision, "the Canada Otter re- 

 sembles the European species in its habits and food. In the 

 winter season, it frequents rapids and falls, to have the advant- 

 age of open water J and when its usual haunts are frozen over, 

 it will travel to a great distance through the snow, in search 

 of a rapid that has resisted the severity of the weather. If 

 seen, and ijursued by hunters on these journies, it will throw 

 itself forward on its belly, and slide through the snow for sev- 

 eral yards, leaving a deep furrow behind it. This movement is 

 repeated with so much rapidity, that even a swift runner on 

 snow-shoes has much trouble in overtaking it. It also doubles 

 on its track with much cunning, and dives under the snow to 

 elude its pursuers. When closely pressed, it will turn and de- 

 fend itself with great obstinacy. In the spring of 182G, at Great 

 Bear Lake, the Otters frequently robbed our nets, which were 

 set under the ice, at the distance of a few yards from a piece of 

 open water. They generally carried off the heads of the fish, 

 and left the bodies sticking in the net. 



"The Canada Otter has one litter annually about the middle 

 of April of from -one to three young.'' 



*Arch. fur Naturg. 1869, p. 269. 



