TEE OTTER. 4.9 



In the same stream where, thirteen years before, I saw 

 the supposed otter and her young, amid cakes of floating 

 ice, during a freshet, I saw a very large otter come to the 

 surface with a chub in its mouth. It seemed quite at 

 home in the icy waters, but dived immediately when it 

 saw me. Soon, however, it reappeared far out in the 

 stream, and clambering on a cake of ice it drifted slowly 

 outward " to join the brimming river." 



I sought to drive it from this stand, by shouting 

 and throwing snow-balls ; but it evidently knew that I 

 could do it no harm at that distance, and it appeared to 

 watch me with sublime indifference as it slowly floated 

 seaward on the trembling raft of ice. 



This otter was much of the time within easy range, 

 had I had a gun or rifle ; but the animal seemed to know 

 that I was unarmed. At all events, it showed no such 

 fear as animals usually do when a hunter is about. It 

 may be a mere coincidence, I know, but for many years 

 I have noticed that I invariably have better luck in 

 seeing mammals and birds when I go into the fields un- 

 armed than when I have my gun with me. It is cer- 

 tainly true that crows know a gun when they see it, and 

 may it not be that among our large mammals this knowl- 

 edge obtains also ? 



Kalm does not make much mention of the otter, al- 

 though seen by him frequently. His one brief remark 

 concerning them refers to the ease with which they can 

 be tamed and trained. He says : " Beavers have been 

 so tamed that they have gone out fishing, and brought 

 home what they had caught to their masters. This often 

 is the case with otters, of which I have seen some which 

 were as tame as dogs, and followed their masters wher- 

 ever they went ; if he went into a boat, the otter went 

 with him, jumped into the water, and after a while came 



3 



