SEA OTTER AND LAND OTTER in 



the belly and side fur plucked and dyed to imitate beaver or seal, 

 with the real unplucked otter for collar and cuffs ; or it had been 

 silvered by chemicals to imitate Russian sable, which must cer- 

 tainly weaken the pelt, made it an imitation of a true fur and brought 

 the price up close to the cost of marten or mink. Also those sil- 

 vered pelts were of very small animals ; and when the combination 

 of a small pelt and chemicals is found though you may be told it 

 "looks just like marten with the stripe left out" — look out for 

 unprime fur doctored. Prime Otter is dark as seal, deep as fox, 

 tough as buffalo, and rich as mahogany. 



I quote the Canadian Conservation Report : 



"Full-grown Canadian otters are about 4 feet in total length 

 and weigh approximately 20 to 30 pounds. Their striking charac- 

 teristics are long, lithe bodies, tapering into long, muscular, flat- 

 tened tails; very short legs, fully webbed hind feet; short ears, 

 keen little eyes and a beautiful coat of dense, dark brown fur. 

 They are weasel-like in their quickness, extremely muscular and, 

 for their size, fearless and savage fighters. 



"Many kinds of otter occur in different parts of the world, but 

 the largest and most valuable for fur are those of North America, 

 Lautra Canadensis, and its several closely related sub-species or 

 geographic varieties. Considering their wide range from Labrador 

 to Alaska and from near the Arctic coast to Florida and Arizona, 

 they show surprisingly little variation in size or in color or quality 

 of fur. This is, of course, owing to their aquatic habits and to the 

 nearly uniform temperature of water in winter over almost the whole 

 continent. 



"For breeding purposes otters with the most valuable coats 

 should be selected, preferably the very dark individuals from 

 Eastern Canada, Labrador, Newfoundland or Maine. Consider- 

 able individual variation is shown and the grade of fur could doubt- 

 less be steadily improved by selective breeding. The largest indi- 

 viduals are from Alaska and the Northwest, but the skins of these 

 are less valuable than those of the smaller and darker animals of 



