THE SEA OTTER—KENYON 401 
of the sound, the mother screamed in distress and swam frantically 
about. Both animals appeared almost hysterical by the time the 
mother discovered her wandering offspring; then she clasped it to 
her chest and swam rapidly away from shore to preen and fondle it 
before beginning to feed in more open water. 
In November and December of 1957 we kept a mother with a new- 
born pup in an artificial pool on Amchitka. At first the mother was 
EES 
Fic. 1.—Sea otter, sketched from life. Amchitka Island, Alaska, 1957. 
possessive and defensive, clinging constantly to her pup. Within 3 
days she accepted our presence and while she was eating would allow 
her pup to eat small pieces of fish from our hands. However, she 
watched intently and when I took the pup aside to weigh it, dropped 
her food, screamed, and standing on her hind legs with her forefeet 
against me attempted to grasp her pup in her teeth. She demonstrated 
no inclination, however, to bite me. After receiving her pup she 
refused for some time to let it go again. 
One night a blizzard loosened the latch on the enclosure door and 
it blew open. Leaving her sleeping pup on some dry bedding the 
mother ventured forth and in the early morning I found her swimming 
in the sea nearby, calling shrilly to her still sleeping pup. After 
