314 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID.E. 



Ill the ^Middle aud Southern States, AiuUibon says they are 

 about one month earlier.* 



The sliding of the Otter, which Sir John describes, is not alone 

 re.^orted to in the endeavor to avoid pursuit; and again, it is 

 something more than simply an easy way of slipping down a 

 wet sloping bank into the water. It seems to be a favorite 

 amusement of this creature, ''just for fun''. Godman speaks 

 of the diversion in the following terms:— "Their favorite sport 

 is sliding, aud for this purpose in winter the highest ridge of 

 snow is selected, to the top of which the Otters scramble, where, 

 lying on the belly with the fore-feet bent backwards, they give 

 themselves an impulse with their hind legs and swiftly glide 

 head-foremost down the declivity, sometimes for the distance 

 of twenty yards. This sport they continue apparently ^^^lth the 

 keenest enjoyment until fatigue or hunger induces them to 

 desist." 



Statements of similar import are made by various writers, 

 and accord with Audubon's personal observations, as rendered 

 by him in the following language: — 



" The otters ascend the bank at a place suitable for their 

 diversion, and sometimes where it is very steep, so that they 

 are obliged to make quite an effort to gain the top ; they slide 

 down in rapid succession where there are many at a sliding 

 place. On one occasion we were resting ourself on the bank 

 of Canoe Creek, a small stream near Henderson, which empties 

 into the Ohio, when a pair of Otters made their appearance, 

 and not observing our proximity, began to enjoy their sliding 

 pastime. They glided down the soap-like muddy surface of 

 the slide with the rapidity of an arrow from a bow, [tj and we 

 counted each one making twenty-two slides before we dis- 

 turbed their sportive occupation. 



"This habit of the Otter of sliding down from elevated 

 places to the borders of streams, is not confined to cold coun- 

 tries, or to slides on the snow or ice, but is pursued in the 

 Southern States, where the earth is seldom covered with snow, 

 or the waters frozen over. Along the reserve-dams of the rice 

 fields of Carolina and Georgia, these slides are very common. 



' Accoiding to Bell, the European Otter goes with young uiue ^\eeks, and 

 produces three to five young ones in March or April (Brit. Quad. 1837, 13C). 

 The period of gestation of our species, if diff«irent, probably remains to be 

 ascertained. 



t[A statement certainly too figurative fov literal acceptation.] 



