THE OTTER. 15 



comparable to beaver and sealskin in many respects, 

 although inferior in lustre and richness of colour; 

 but brings a very high price when it is in a condition 

 a thing rare in England suitable for making 

 high class trimmings for ladies 7 jackets. The longer 

 hairs are somewhat coarse, and these in the manufac- 

 turing process are removed, so that the fur is left more 

 silky than anything the human loom can weave. The 

 Otter feeds almost entirely on fishes, in rivers, but has 

 no objection to crustacean dainties at sea. It swims 

 with great rapidity on the surface of the water and can 

 readily dive below its surface; but for these rapid move- 

 ments it could not at all times obtain a plentiful 

 supply of fish. It brings its prey to land to devour it, 

 for it could not eat it in the water without swallowing 

 a great quantity of that liquid. It is this habit that 

 renders it a matter of but little difficulty to shoot 

 otters, if the sportsman knows the time to be still. 



The Otter is dainty, eating only the more juicy and 

 fleshy portions of the fish. Its lair is often thickly 

 strewed with half-devoured fish. A Mr. Morgan 

 O'Brian, a gamekeeper in the county of Kerry, wrote 

 to me many years ago an interesting letter, in which 

 he described the habits of the Otter in his county. 

 There was one remarkable lair on the banks of the 

 Feale which was occupied by a family of five otters ; 

 it was situated on a peninsula which ran into the river ; 

 the stronghold was under the root of a large willow 

 tree, very difficult of access to dogs : there had always 

 been otters there in his knowledge, which extended over 

 twenty years. For five successive summers he used to 

 visit the peninsula daily, the first thing in the morning. 



