64 FAUNA OF SHROPSHIRE. 



OTTER. In Shropshire the Otter is found on the Severn 

 Lutra vulgaris. and most of the larger streams, and in 



some parts is numerous. Rev. J. B. 

 Meredith, of Kinnerley, writes: "traces are constantly 

 seen on the Verniew and Tanat, and for two years 

 there has been a regular holt on the Morda brook. A 

 few years ago I had the pleasure of seeing one fishing 

 in the Tanat, and as I continued perfectly still he 

 seemed to have no fear, and at times came within a 

 dozen yards." Mr. T. C. Eyton once shot one in the 

 sea near Holyhead while struggling with a large Conger 

 Eel that had coiled round it. The food of the Otter 

 consists principally of fish, which it pursues in their 

 native element and catches with ease, being a wonder- ' 

 fully expert diver and swimmer. It cannot eat under 

 water, however, but brings its prey to the bank. If very 

 hungry, it will eat it on the spot, but, otherwise, carries 

 it off to its " holt" or lair, a hole excavated in the bank 

 of the stream. In eating it holds the fish down with its 

 fore-paws and, beginning at the shoulders, devours it 

 piecemeal, leaving the head and tail. It has an unfor- 

 tunate habit of killing far more than it can eat, and will 

 often leave a fish after only one or two mouthfuls. On 

 land the Otter runs very rapidly, though it does not leap 

 or bound like the other members of the Weasel tribe. 

 Although its food is chiefly fish, the Otter has been 

 known when pressed by hunger to eat various animals, 

 birds, and even insects. A correspondent of Mr. Beck- 

 with, writing from Towyn, states that Otters have 

 been seen to take Ducks by swimming under them and 

 dragging them below, and during a flood one actually 

 came into a farm yard after some Ducks, which it had 



