653 



LUTRA. 



LUTRA. 



551 



Teeth of Otter. F. Cuvier. 



through the water, when propelled horizontally by its webbed feet 

 beneath the surface, noiselessly and speedily. Easy and elegant in 

 its motions, there are few objects more attractive in menageries than 

 the pond, especially if it be kept clean and supplied with clear water, 

 wherein the Otter is seen to hunt its living prey. When it has seized 

 a small fish, it instantly leaves the water and devours it, beginning 

 with the head, whilst the body is held between the fore paws. 

 Larger fish are held down by the paws, and the head and tail are 

 often left uneaten. The havoc made by these animals in the rivers 

 and ponds is great ; for they will go on killing, and eat but a small 

 portion of each fish, if it be large, when they find plenty of prey. 

 When fish is scarce, and it is pressed by hunger, Mr. Bell states that 

 the Otter has been known to resort far inland, to the neighbourhood 

 of the farm-yard, and attack lambs, sucking-pigs, and poultry. Mr. 

 Macgillivray tells us, also, that it has been known to attack young 

 domestic animala, and the latter zoologist found the stomach of one, 

 which was killed in June, filled with a curious collection of larvae and 

 earth-worms. The period of gestation is said to be nine weeks, and 

 the number of young produced varies from three to five. The Otter's 

 places of refuge near rivers and lakes are beneath the roots of trees 

 or in holes. 



But it must not be supposed that the Common Otter is, as it baa 

 been asserted, confined to the fresh-waters. They are knowu to fre- 

 quent the sea in the north of Scotland, and to hunt far out. In the 

 south of England (Cornwall) the Otter will go a mile from the shore 

 in the summer and good weather after its prey, according to Mr. Couch. 

 On the sea-shore, rocky coves with scattered blocks, hollows, and cavi- 

 ties under large stones are its haunts. These Marine Common Otters 

 must not be confounded with the Sea-Otter (Enhydra). 



That the Common Otter is capable of domestication and attachment 

 we have ample testimony. Albertus Magnus, Aldrovandus, Gesner, 

 and others attest this. Every angler will remember the passage in 

 Walton, where good Mr. Piscator is anxious to possess himself of one 

 of the young otters which the huntsman, after the death of the 'bitch 

 otter,' had found :"' Look you,' says the huntsman, 'hereabout it 

 was she kennelled ; look you, here it was indeed, for here's her young 

 ones, no less than five; come, let's kill them all.' 'No,' exclaims 

 Piscator, ' I pray, Sir, save me one, and I'll try if I can make her 

 twne, as I know an ingenious gentleman in Leicestershire, Mr. Nich. 

 Seagrave, has done ; who hath not only made her tame, but to catch 

 fih, and <lo many other things at pleasure.' " Buffon, who could be 

 as hard of belief in some points as he was credulous in others, 



disbelieves the Otter's capability for domestication. The testimony 

 above noticed has been confirmed by a cloud of modern witnesses. 

 Goldsmith mentions an otter which went into a gentleman's pond at 

 the word of command, drove the fish up into a corner, and having 

 seized on the largest brought it out of the water to its master. Daniel, 

 Bewick, Shaw, record instances of the animal's docility in this way. 

 Mr. Bell and Mr. Macgillivray both corroborate the fact. The latter 

 has collected the following anecdotes : " Mr. M'Diarmid, in his 

 amusing ' Sketches from Nature,' gives an account of several domesti- 

 cated otters, one of which, belonging to a poor widow, when led forth 

 plunged into the Urr or the neighbouring burns and brought out all 

 the fish it could find. Another, kept at Corsbie House, Wigtonshire, 

 evinced a great fondness for gooseberries, fondled about her keeper's 

 feet like a pup or kitten, and even seemed inclined to salute her cheek, 

 when permitted to carry her freedoms so far. A third, belonging to 

 Mr. Monteith, of Carstairs, was also very tame, and though he fre- 

 quently stole away at night to fish by the pale light of the moon and 

 associate with his kindred by the river side, bis master, of course, 

 was too generous to find any fault with his peculiar mode of spending 

 his evening hours. In the morning he was always at his post in the 

 kennel, and no animal understood better the secret of keeping his own 

 side of the house. Indeed his pugnacity in thia respect gave him a 

 great lift in the favour of the gamekeeper, who talked of his feats 

 wherever he went, and avowed besides, that if the best cur that ever 

 ran ' only daured to girn ' at his protegcS he would soon ' mak his 

 teeth meet through him.' To mankind however he was much more 

 civil, and allowed himself to be gently lifted by the tail, though he 

 objected to any interference with his snout, which is probably with 

 him the seat of honour." They are however dangerous pets ; for, if 

 offended, they will bite grievously. 



The capacity of the Otter for domestication being proved, there is 

 no doubt that the animal might be trained to catch fish or assist in 

 fishing. For this purpose Mr. Bell states the following method has 

 been recommended : They should be procured as young as possible, 

 and be first fed with small fish and water. Then bread and milk is 

 to be alternated with the fish, and the proportion of the former 

 gradually increased till they are led to live entirely on bread and milk. 

 They are then taught to fetch and carry, as dogs are trained, and 

 when they are brought to do thia well a leather fish stuffed with wool 

 is employed as the thing to be fetched. They are afterwards exercised 

 with a dead fish, and chastised if they attempt to tear it. Finally they 

 are sent into the water after living fish. 



As an article of food, though the flesh is rank and fishy, the Otter 

 was not rejected by the Roman Catholics. Their church permitted it 

 to be eaten on maigre days ; and Pennant saw one in the kitchen of 

 the Carthusians near Dijon, under preparation for the dinner of the 

 religious of that rigid order, who, by their rules, are prohibited 

 during their whole lives from eating flesh. Mr. Macgillivray states 

 that he knew a man in Harris who procured a considerable number 

 every year, when the skins were more in request than now, and who 

 generally cooked the flesh, of which Mr. Macgillivray ouco partook 

 with the family. It was " dark-coloured, rank, sapid enough, but 

 not agreeably so. ; " and under the skin was a layer of fat, as in the 

 Seals, which might, he adds, render it pleasant food to a Greenlander 

 or starving Hebridiau. 



Europe. River-Otter (Lutra vulgarii). 



Before referring to the undoubted varieties of this species, it is 

 necessary to notice an Irish Otter, which Mr. Ogilby has elevated to 

 the rank of a species, under the name of L. Jioensis, on account of the 

 intensity of its colouring, which approaches nearly to black both on the 

 upper and under surface ; of the less extent of the pale colour beneath 

 the throat, as compared with the English L. vulgaris ; and of some 

 difference of the ears, and in the proportions of other parts. The 

 marine habits of, the animal, which is found chiefly in hollows and 



