THE OTTER. 9 



large salmon of 20 Ibs. and upwards, and then only 

 nibbling a little bit out of the back of the neck. These 

 may be believed or not, according to the imagination of the 

 reader. We have never been able to authenticate in a 

 single instance any one having seen an otter perform such 

 a feat. 



In the winter, when ice and snow has driven them from 

 their usual haunts, otters, when thus pressed for food, will 

 frequent the neighbourhood of cottages and homesteads, 

 and will eat anything they can pick up, from a duck to 

 a rat, and will not despise a rabbit should that rodent come 

 in its way. A writer in the Fishing Gazette, hailing from 

 the north, says the greater part of the diet of the otter 

 consists of crayfish, thousands of which it destroys, and it 

 is for these that long journeys are so frequently made. 



In hunting the otter certain peculiar terms are always 

 employed. The foot-mark is "the seal," the dropping " the 

 spraint," and when the animal rises to the surface to breathe, 

 " to vent." 



The length of a full-grown otter is from 3 feet to 3 feet 

 6 inches, including the tail ; colour brown, with the throat, 

 cheeks, and under parts of a whitish- grey. 



The fur of the otter is of two kinds the outer with long 

 coarse hairs, the inner fine and soft. 



The average weight of a full-grown otter, according to 

 Bell ("British Quadrupeds," second edition), is from 15 Ibs. 

 to 1 8 Ibs. Some are occasionally killed weighing over 20 

 Ibs. one recorded in the Field, February 20, 1886, of the 

 enormous weight of 36 Ibs. I much doubt if the biggest of 

 these otters could chase, seize, and bring on shore a salmon 

 of 15 Ibs. or 20 Ibs., or even of much less weight. But we 

 know that two-legged otters, much heavier, are apt to fre- 

 quent salmon pools and streams, at all times and all seasons, 

 and they have nasty jagged teeth, although not in their 

 mouths. 



This animal, from his nocturnal habits, rarely comes 

 under the observation of the angler. We had an oppor- 

 tunity last year of watching one fishing on the Kennet. 

 We had strolled up late in the evening to a certain pool, to 



