CHAPTEE V. 



OTTER-HUNTING. 



The otter-liunting season is popularly supposed to 

 take place during the months of April and May, when 

 fox-hunting is over and hunting men are unable to 

 relinquish the pleasure of hunting some beast of venerie. 

 Yet, in the strict sporting sense of the term, the season 

 for otter-hunting may be said to extend throughout the 

 whole year, for so great is the ignorance about the habits 

 of the otter that opinion is divided as to whether there 

 is a breeding period to constitute a close season, or 

 whether otters breed indiscriminately all the year round. 

 Indeed we might almost say that nobody knows any- 

 thing about the habits of the otter, except that he is 

 a persevering foe to fish, and has such a sensitive 

 palate that he will only eat the most delicate parts of 

 the fish, except when compelled by hunger, leaving the 

 coarser parts on the bank for rats and other vermin to 

 feed upon. For this reason otter - hunting is fast 

 becoming an obsolete sport, and, indeed, is described as 

 such in the later editions of the " Britannica Encyclo- 

 paedia," and " Wood's Natural History," though our own 

 experience is that it is more popular than ever amongst 

 the small clique of sportsmen who are privileged to 

 enjoy it. Yet, if the otter and otter-hunting tend to 

 destroy the fisherman's sport, it can hardly be expected 



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