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LUTRA CANADENSIS, (Turton). 



7 HE OTTER. 



Specific Character. — Length about 4| feet. Muzzle longer than wide, send- 

 ing down a naked point along the median line of the upper lip anteriorly, 

 Under surfaces of the feet so covered with hair towards the circumference as 

 completely to isolate the naked pads of the tips. 



A hairy strip extending forward from beneath the carpus on the palm. 

 Colour above, liver brown, barely lighter beneath interior surface and sides of headi 

 and neck dirty whitish. 



Habitat. — North America generally, common in Northern Ontario. 



Average Size. — E(]ual to that of an enormous cat, although much longer in 

 body. 



Average Weight. — From 25 to 40 pounds. 



Average Height. — 10 inches. 



Average Length. — 3i to 4 feet. 



Value of Fur. — Per skin, average $4 to $8. 



The general form of the otter is musteline. 



The head is broad and blunt, the neck long, the body depressed and low, legs 

 short, tail long, tapering and much depressed about three-fifths as long as the head 

 and body. 



The feet are broad and webbed to a point opposite to the root of the claws in 

 the fore feet. The palms are entirely hairy, except the central portions which 

 are naked. The characteristics of the hind feet are much like those of the fore 

 feet. 



The fur is of a soft brown colour ; the under fur is, however, decidedly lighter. 



The habits of the otter are decidedly aquatic and its movements in the water 

 are marvellous. 



It is a great destroyer of fish, and is so dainty in the matter of food that it 

 will eat only the choicest parts of the fish it kills, leaving the remainder to rot on 

 the river bank. 



The nest of the otter is found in hollows under the banks of the river, but 

 the an imal never burrows, its claws being too weak for any such purpose. 



The fur of the otter is very valuable, and for this reason it is hunted in- 

 cessantly, so much so, that as far as Ontario is concerned the animal is almost 

 extinct. 



The breeding season occurs in March and the young are born in April, from 

 three to five being produced at a time. 



