THE OREGON 
NATURALIST. 
Vor. 2. 
PORTLAND, OREGON, APRIL, 1895: 
Nor 45 
“SOME OREGON MAMMALS” 
THE SEA OTTER. 
(Enhydrts lutris.) 
Classed on a basis of commercial importance 
the sea otter easily takes first place. Prime skins 
of this wonderful animal having sold in Europ- 
ean markets for as high as eight hundred dollars 
and the average skin sells today for one hund- 
red and fifty dollars 
Formerly sea otter were plentiful all along the 
Oregon coast but no animal with such a price 
on its scalp could long exist and slowly but 
surely they are passing to the land of the Buff- 
alo and the Auk. 
measure less than four feet from tip to tip. 
A full grown sea otter will 
The head is hioad and short; set on a short 
thick neck, the body being round and _ heavy, 
sloping off over the hips. 
The fore legs are extremely short and the feet 
small; five toed and furred to the nails, which 
The 
hind limbs are longer and more powerful cover 
-ed with a black leathery skin from the heel 
are short and blunt like those of a dog. 
down which forms a broad webb connecting 
all five toes of each foot. The fur is of a very 
dark brown color shading into gray on the 
shoulders and dirty white on the head and face. 
The dorsal surface is thickly studded with 
long gray hairs which give rise to the term 
‘‘silver-tipped’’ and it is according to the 
length and regularity of these silver tips that 
the valuation of different skins vary. The fur 
is prime in all seasons as the animal sheds its 
coat in the same manner as the hair on the 
human head is shed A child of the sea; born 
on its undulating surface; helpless; neither able 
to swim or dive, the young sea otter spends 
the first two months of its existence floating on 
a bed of kelp constantly attended by the 
mother who from time to time takes it in her 
fore paws and, lying on her back, nurses it; 
then replaces it on its bed of kelp which she 
has previously prepared. 
At the age of six or eight weeks it is taught 
to swim and dive by the mother who takes the 
pup in her arms (fore paws) and, holding it to 
her breast so that its nose is buried in her fur, 
dives under the surface, aud when in her esti- 
mation she has gone far enough down she re- 
leases her hold on the pup who is then compell- 
ed to strike out for the surface alone. The pup 
remains with its mother until the next one is 
born and sometimes longer. The whole life of 
the sea otter is spent on the ocean except when 
it becomes wearied by long protracted storms. 
Then it resorts to some rocky point to rest and 
sleep. In moderately calm weather they sleep 
on their backs in the water, only the nose and 
points of the hind flippers showing above the 
surface, and even when asleep they are not 
easily approached on account of their wonder- 
fully acute hearing. 
The food of the sea otter consists of sea ur- 
chins, jelly-fish, young sprouts of the kelp-weed 
and fish, but the sea urchins form by far the 
larger part of their diet and are obtained by 
diving. 
