THE BOOK OF THE OTTER 



its eyes, thus a period of thirty days elapsed from 

 the time of its birth until it could see. At the end 

 of the thirty days the cub weighed 14 ounces. It 

 was at first fed on milk and water, but became very 

 thin on this diet, so a change was made to 

 " Mellins " as mixed for a new-born child. On 

 this the cub thrived, its weight on October nth 

 being just under 2 Ib. It was taken- from the holt 

 on August 20th. Had this cub been fed in the 

 ordinary way by its mother it would possibly have 

 opened its eyes at a rather earlier date, as it would 

 have escaped the set-back caused by an unsuitable 

 diet. The eyes of the adult otter are very dark 

 coloured, but those of a cub are at first much 

 lighter, not unlike the eyes of a young fox cub. 



When the cubs are able to travel, the bitch otter 

 leads them down from the head-waters to the larger 

 streams. The cubs remain with their mother for 

 some considerable time, as witness the constant 

 occurrence of cubs of from 10 Ib. to 12 Ib. being 

 put down in company with the bitch. They 



consort with their mother until she goes off to rear 



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