230 



THE BADGER AND WEASEL FAMILY. 



which we will not mention, since the essential 

 characters are throughout the same in all. 



The common otter, whose domain extends 

 over the whole of the Eurasian continent, 

 between the Arctic Circle in the north and 

 the Himalayas in the south, and embraces 

 even Japan, has a broad flattened head, with 

 short blunt muzzle, on the end of which there 

 open at the sides the slit-shaped nostrils, 

 which can be completely closed when the 

 animal dives. The lips are very thick, and 

 set with long twisted moustaches; the eyes 

 small, placed close together on the upper 

 surface of the head, the ears very short and 

 rounded. The moderately long neck is 

 almost as thick as the head, the body cylin- 

 drical ; the pretty long and easily compressed 

 tail ends in a point; the legs are very short, 

 but strong ; the paws somewhat crooked, 

 almost as in the badger-hound, the five toes 

 almost of equal length, and the feet com- 

 pletely webbed, the claws very short. An 

 adult otter may attain the length of 2^ feet 

 or more, while the tail measures half that 

 length. 



The total number of the teeth is 36. The 

 incisors are short, almost equal in size ; the 

 canines massive, somewhat recurved. In the 

 upper jaw there are four premolars, the first 

 of which is very small, and placed on the 

 inner side of the canine, not behind it, while 

 the last premolar is a carnassial with a single 

 sharp cusp, and a very broad low heel. The 

 permanent molar with tubercled grinding sur- 

 face is enormously larger than all the other 

 teeth. In the lower jaw three conical pre- 

 molars, the smallest of which is in front and 

 the largest behind, are followed "by a carnas- 

 sial with three sharp conical cusps in front, 

 and a strong posterior heel, while this again 

 is succeeded by a rounded tubercled tooth. 



The fur, which is pretty highly valued in 

 trade, is thick and short; glossy and rather 

 stiff long hairs cover a very soft down. The 

 colour is a beautiful dark chestnut-brown on 

 the back, but rather lighter underneath. 



Of all our native animals the otter is cer- 

 tainly the most intelligent, that which makes 

 best use of the lessons taught by experience. 

 Its scent is infinitely delicate, its hearing 

 exceptionally keen. The otter is an active, 

 lively, spirited, and strong animal. Its ele- 

 ment is the water. It is a most expert 

 swimmer and diver; it swims easily against 

 the most torrential currents, and is in no way 

 inferior to the trout and the pike in rapidity 

 and flexibility of movement. Young cats 

 playing on the ground are only awkward 

 sprawlers in comparison with young otters 

 plunging about in the water. 



The otter lives on the edge of streams 

 among the shingle of the banks, in deserted 

 foxes' holes, or in holes dug out by itself. 

 In most cases the passage leading out of 

 these holes opens at a certain depth below 

 the surface, while one or more passages open- 

 ing above serve for ventilation. 



When I lived in the district of Souterre, 

 at the junction of the Rhone and the Arve, 

 in the neighbourhood of Geneva, I became 

 well acquainted with an otter which lurked 

 among the large blocks of stone on the edge 

 of the water. Every night it used to swim 

 up the Rhone to the slaughter-house of the 

 town, where it found abundance of fish and 

 crabs. Often I met it at night by moonlight 

 on a shady path which ascended along the 

 river-bank. The first few times it met me it 

 vanished with lightning speed in the water; 

 afterwards, when it had observed the course 

 I took, it merely stepped aside among the 

 bushes to let me pass. Plainly it knew that 

 I did not want to do it any harm. I often 

 found its evacuations on the path, and ex- 

 amined them. They were of a chalky white 

 colour, like those of clogs, and contained fish- 

 bones and fragments of the shells of crabs, 

 never anything else that I saw. 



Fish and crabs are, in fact, the favourite 

 food of the otter. But it also consumes 

 small mammals, birds, frogs, and, in short, 

 everything that lives in and near the water. 



