OTTER-HUNTING 



hounds checked. The otter may still be in front, 

 therefore it pays to make good the water for some 

 little distance up-stream. If, within a reasonable 

 distance, hounds hit off his landing place and mark 

 him at a holt, well and good, but if there is only 

 a " touch " here and there on which hounds feather, 

 denoting a stale line perhaps a day or two old, it 

 is then advisable to try back. If hounds have 

 carried the drag at speed, they may, in their 

 eagerness, have overrun their otter, and left him 

 not so very far behind. When casting back there- 

 fore, go slowly, and keep some hounds if possible 

 on both banks. Sooner or later, with anything 

 like luck, hounds should locate their otter on one 

 bank or the other. Just as an early start affords 

 a hot drag, so does it help hounds to more easily 

 wind their otter in his holt, should he have crossed 

 and left no trace behind him in the stream. Some 

 hounds exhibit great aptitude for winding an otter 

 in this manner, therefore when you see a member 

 of the pack throw up his head and begin testing 



the air, you can be fairly sure that your otter is not 



85 



