OTTER'S HAUNTS AND HABITS 



food, otters must do a great deal of good by reduc- 

 ing the stock. 



As far as furred prey is concerned, otters will 

 kill and eat rats, water-voles, and young rabbits. 

 We have on several occasions seen where a small 

 bunny had been caught by an otter. On marshes 

 where duck shooting is carried on, otters find and 

 feed on wounded duck, exactly as do foxes. Here 

 again they do good by acting as scavengers, as 

 well as by putting winged birds out of their misery. 

 Rabbits appear to be the largest four-footed 

 creatures preyed upon by otters, but we have heard 

 it suggested by an old Lakeland dalesman that they 

 will on occasion take lambs. Although we bring 

 forward this suggestion with great diffidence, it is 

 quite possible that there is some truth in it. Our 

 informant lived by the shore of a lake in an out- 

 of-the-way part of the country, where at one time 

 pine-martens were very plentiful. It is a well- 

 known fact that martens will kill lambs, and an 

 otter, which is a much more powerful animal, could 



easily do the same if so inclined. Anyway, the old 



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