OTTER'S HAUNTS AND HABITS 



in midstream, and either pushes them in, or leaves 

 them there until they are at last tempted to enter 

 the water and follow her. On the sea coast otters 

 spend a good deal of time searching for flounders in 

 the shallow pools. They also eat crabs, lobsters, 

 sea anemones, and various crustaceans. Otters 

 sometimes visit the lobster fishers' creels, and there 

 are instances on record of partially grown otters 

 having been found drowned in the creels. On 

 inland lakes and streams otters feed on fresh- 

 water mussels and cray-fish. 



As previously mentioned, it is no uncommon 

 thing to find the remains of fur and feather in 

 otter coke. Otters capture waterhens and dab- 

 chicks, although we are of the opinion that they 

 prefer other food if they can get it. At any rate 

 we are familiar with a certain reed-fringed pond 

 on the hills, where a bitch otter and two cubs 

 of about 12 Ib. weight resided for some months. 

 This pond was also occupied by quite a number 

 of waterhens, yet there were no apparent remains 



of these birds to be found in the vicinity, which 



61 



