THE BOOK OP THE OTTER 



'crasies, and have in addition a fair knowledge of 

 the habits of your quarry, there should be little 

 excuse for a blank day, provided you start early 

 enough in the morning to afford your hounds the 

 chance of picking up and sticking to a decent 

 drag. The surest way of finding an otter is to drag 

 up to him, any other method, at any rate on rivers, 

 holds an enormous element of chance. On a lake 

 or a tarn, which you yourself know is inhabited by 

 otters, it is a different matter, for you can then 

 throw off in the reed-beds or other undergrowth 

 bordering the water, with a good hope of putting 

 your otter down before hounds have been long 

 at work. 



No fixed rules are applicable to otter-hunting, or 

 any other kind of hunting for that matter, but it 

 is safe to say that the Master who is a trier, and 

 keeps on trying, will be the one to bring to hand 

 most otters. Being himself of the " never say die " 

 order, he will inculcate the same spirit in his 

 hounds, for a slack huntsman makes a slack pack, 

 and vice versa. 



