382 MODE OF HUNTING IT. 



quite fresh, it happens not unfrequently that the animal 

 is overtaken hefore reaching' tlie water, or other place of 

 refuge, in which case it is quickly knocked on the head, 

 or otherwise despatched. Should it, however, have crept 

 into the cleft of a rock, the dog is slipped from his 

 couplings ; and as the heast is much more readily dis- 

 lodged from its retreat than either the badger or the 

 fox, he most commonly soon succeeds in driving it from 

 thence. If a river be close at hand, one should keep 

 watch near the bank, as the Otter, wlien ousted from its 

 lair, always makes for the water. But if it cannot be 

 induced to leave tlie rock, or that you are unable by 

 the removal of stones or by digging to compel it to do so, 

 the dog ought again to be tied up, and you must lie in 

 ambush until dusk, when it is sure of its own free-will 

 to quit its retreat. Should it be too dai'k to shoot when 

 it comes forth, the dog must be once more released, when 

 the aifair is generally soon over, because, provided the 

 ground be pretty level, and the start tolerably fair, it 

 cannot run so fast that a man may not overtake it. 



But if the Otter has taken to an unfrozen stream, 

 one ought first to make a circuit of its outlet, to be 

 assured it is still there, and afterwards carefully search 

 its banks ; and if the dog knows his business, he will 

 presently find out the beast's hiding-place. If it be a 

 mere brook in which it has made its lair, the better plan 

 of dislodging it is to dam up the stream below ; for 

 when the water has risen so high that it can no longer 

 obtain air, it must of necessity " bolt." In this case, 

 however, it is always needful to place bushes across the 

 stream at some little distance above the dam in question, 

 as otherwise, when the water has driven it from its 

 retreat, it may dive up stream instead of down, and not 

 come to the surface to breathe until out of o-unshot. 

 Should matters be properly arranged, the animal must be 



