398 THE NATURALIST. 



It would be superfluous in me to dwell on the habitat of the animal, 

 for this is well known, and for the same reason I need not mention how 

 admirably he is formed and fashioned to perform the part allotted him in 

 the animal economy. I will therefore proceed at once to a few particular 

 and less familiar traits I have observed in his character : — 



The inquisitiveness of the otter surpasses that of most other conge- 

 nerous species, and to satisfy which, he has been known to sacrifice his 

 own safety, and sometimes even life itself — I have seen the otter 

 frequently during the late hours of a summer's evening— on his piscatory 

 excursions, and when stillness and the shades of night gave him full 

 opportunity of displaying his natural habits and instincts without " let or 

 hindrance," and on such occasions, if a wild duck in his evening flight 

 inland happened to alight in a stream, or perchance in aff'right to fly from 

 one within sight or hearing of an otter, in an incredible short space of 

 time the animal would be upon the spot to ascertain the cause of the 

 disturbance. And at a late hour at night, I have occasionally approached 

 the brink of a stream where an otter was fishing, and very soon a small 

 oval shaped object would protrude from the surface of the water in close 

 proximity to where I stood — it was the head of the otter,'his body entirely 

 submerged, and his two small jet bliick eyes peering inquisitively upon 

 me — and coul^ an otter's lips articulate, his certainly would have uttered 

 the apostrophe often repeated elsewhere, " Stranger, what of the night !" 

 His presence was vouchsafed but for a minute, and then withdrawn, this 

 small space of time being deemed by him sufficient to satisfy his curiosity. 



And to be convinced of the otter's inquisitorial propensities, I have 

 repeated the test on several occasions with difl'erent individuals, and 

 always with the like result. Notwithstanding the innate shyness and 

 ferocity of the otter, he is when captured young, capable of becoming 

 remarkably docile, and of yielding to kind and persuasive influences. 

 Instances are on record of it having been tamed to capture fish and bring 

 them on land to its master. Some years ago, a person of the name of 

 Hermble, an unostentatious Waltonian, then living in Rotlibury, a small 

 village situated on the river Coquet, some twenty miles west from its 

 confluence with the ocean — possessed an otter so wonderfully domesticated, 

 that it went about ad libitum, and associated with all the canes familiares of 

 the village. And when strangers would call to see him, " Sam" as he 

 was called, was often to " seek up" from amongst his companions in the 

 street, or they would be requested to leave their card, and call again when 



