74 OUTDOOR LIFE IN ENGLAND 



time, and of this number some are exceedingly 

 rare. We have but one variety of the following, 

 viz. : the hedgehog, mole, badger, squirrel, wild- 

 cat, and otter. The last-named animal, though 

 perhaps not often seen without the assistance of 

 hounds, is by no means uncommon ; and it may 

 be said that wherever there are streams with 

 fish in them, there are sure to be otters ; every 

 district suitable for the sport is nowadays hunted 

 by a pack of otter hounds, and thus the otters, 

 being preserved for sporting purposes, are subjected 

 to less general persecution than formerly, Where, 

 however, it is impossible to kill them with hounds 

 by reason of the depth of the streams, they are at 

 times destroyed by means of traps. It is by no 

 means an easy matter to trap an otter, and to do so 

 requires great care and no little patience, for an 

 otter is an excessively wary animal, and its senses, 

 especially that of smelling, are singularly acute. 

 The run of an otter having been found, the steel 

 trap, unbaited, is placed therein and covered over 

 with brushwood, care being taken not to touch 

 either trap or brushwood with the bare hand, for 

 were this precaution neglected, the otter would be 

 certain to detect the scent and turn aside out of 

 the run. At first, seeing the brushwood in 

 its accustomed path, it jumps over it. Day by 

 day the trap is gradually moved farther away 

 from the brushwood, until it is so placed that, on 

 landing over the latter, it is caught. This is, 

 I believe, the best way of capturing otters. 



