THE COMMON OTTER. 203 



When he is wounded, the Otter always makes 

 directly to land, where he maintains an obstinate 

 defence against his adversaries. The females, on 

 these occasions, will sometimes emit a very shrill 

 squeal; but a male Otter never utters any note of 

 distress, however keen his wounds may be. The bite 

 of these animals is so severe as frequently to snap 

 asunder the bones of Dogs that are set on to attack 

 them. 



The Otter is only to be caught by means of an 

 unbaited trap; for he is so delicate in his feeding 

 as to reject every kind of bait. This trap must be 

 placed near his landing place, which will be found 

 by carefully examining the edges of the river, or 

 pond, for his traces. The trap must be set in, and 

 covered with, mud, to prevent his seeing it. The 

 instant the trap strikes, the Otter plunges into the 

 water with it, where its weight, preventing his ris- 

 ing to the surface, soon destroys him. The trap 

 will seldom be drawn more than fifteen or twenty 

 yards from the spot, and, with a grappling iron, 

 may soon be recovered. 



But, although the Otter rejects all baits in a trap, 

 an instance occurred, in August, 1799, in the river 

 Buckland, of one of these animals taking a live bait. 

 An Otter darted from his hole, and seized the bait 

 of a gentleman trolling for pike, who, in conse- 

 quence of the animal's violent struggles, thought 

 that his bait was taken by an overgrown fish. After 

 a long contest, to the great astonishment of the 



troller, 



