OTTER-HUNTING 



away as the atmosphere becomes warmer. When 

 the sun begins to sink and the air becomes damp 

 again, scent is likely to freshen; while a shower 

 of rain may affect it in the same way. The 

 vagaries of scent are impossible to foretell with 

 anything like certainty, and perhaps it is as well so, 

 otherwise sport would become too cut and dried, 

 and would lose much of its interest on that account. 

 Occasionally an otter takes refuge behind 

 weiring or in some other retreat, that necessitates 

 pulling down a certain amount of the obstruction 

 before he can be evicted. In this case, permission 

 from the owner or tenant of the place should be 

 obtained before beginning operations. In the 

 same way, should the owner or tenant object to 

 the presence of hounds on his land, always be civil, 

 no matter what he says, and take hounds away with- 

 out any argument. The life of the sport depends 

 upon the existence of amicable relations between 

 the Hunt and the owners of the land which they 

 cross. Although terriers can as a rule bolt an 



otter if they can get to him, ferrets have been used 



105 



