OTTERS. 



93 



common otter is occasionally found in the large tanks so common throughout the 

 country, and it is stated by Mr. Blanf'ord to be common in the great backwaters 

 off the Western Coast, and in the Chilka Lake of Orissa. 



Otters are generally found either in pairs or in family parties of five or six 

 individuals, the latter comprising the parents and their partially or full-grown 

 progeny. Their habitations are usually made in or near the banks of the waters 

 they frequent, the hollows beneath the roots of trees growing on a river's margin 

 being especial favourites, while in hilly districts the clefts between rocks are selected, 

 and where the soil is of an alluvial nature deep burrows, with several entrances, 

 one of which usually opens beneath the water, are excavated in the banks. A large 

 pile of loose stones, forming one of the piers of a timber bridge over the Indus 

 above the town of Leh has long been the favourite resort of a colony of otters. 

 The presence of numerous bones and scales of fish, as well as the peculiar web- 

 footed tracks of the animals themselves, will always indicate whether or not an 

 otter's den or "holt" is inhabited. 



Otters apparently never hibernate, and in consequence must be hard pressed 

 to supply themselves with food during the winter in the colder portions of their 

 habitat. At such times they are asserted in inhabited districts to make occasional 

 raids on the farmyard, where they have been known to kill poultry and, it is said, 

 even young lambs and pigs. Water- fowl are probably also attacked at such 

 periods, while it is stated that eggs are always acceptable to these animals. In 

 addition to fish, otters are in the habit of eating frogs and such fresh-water or 

 marine crustaceans as are found in the waters they frequent. 



Although chiefly nocturnal, — more especially in districts where they are much 

 harassed, — otters may not unf requently be seen hunting in the morning and evening, 

 Mr. Blanford stating that he has frequently observed them in India at work up 

 to nine or ten o'clock in the morning. When fishing, it appears that all the 

 members of a party of otters are in the habit of combining their efforts to surround 

 or drive a shoal of fish. General M'Master had on one occasion the good fortune to 

 observe a party comprising at least six individuals thus engaged in the Chilka Lake 

 of Orissa. " They worked," writes the narrator of the incident, " most systematically 

 in a semicircle, with intervals of about fifty yards between each, having, I suppose, 

 a large shoal of fish in the centre, for every now and then an otter would disappear, 

 and generally, when it was again seen, it was well within the semicircle, with 

 a fish in its jaws, caught more for pleasure than for profit, as the fish, so far as I 

 could see, were always left untouched beyond a single bite." 



The large size of the aperture in the skull below the socket of the eye for the 

 transmission of the nerves supplying the muzzle, indicates that the " whiskers " of 

 the otter must be extremely sensitive. With regard to their powers of hearing, 

 smell, and sight, Mr. Blanford believes that, while the two former are well developed, 

 otters are somewhat deficient in the latter. Their general intelligence is decidedly 

 high, and they likewise often display much cunning and forethought, more especially 

 in avoiding the traps set for their capture. When excited they utter a kind of 

 yelping bark, and they are stated to give a sort of whistle as an alarm-note to 

 their fellows. There is still a dearth of information as to the breeding-habits of 

 the otter. It appears, however, that the young may be produced at any season of 



