74 HUNTING 



that riparian owners will encourage the preserving and 

 hunting of the otter. Further, we think that the 

 keenest otter-hunter must admit that it would be 

 selfish to rob hundreds of anglers of their enjoyment 

 so that a small field may get a few hours' excitement. 

 So the otter now is only hunted in small streams where 

 a rod is seldom seen, and the Masters of Otter-Hounds 

 have to take their packs from county to county like 

 wandering gipsies, and be thankful if they only get 

 a week's sport in one district. 



To revert for one moment to the prevalent ignorance 

 about the otter and his ways and habits, it appears, 

 upon the authority of the Duke of Beaufort, that the 

 otter has a stronger objection to being seen than even 

 the fox has. Yet in India trained otters are almost as 

 common as trained dogs, and we have heard of two 

 gentlemen in England, namely, Mr Eichardson, and 

 a gentleman at Carstree, who possess, or did possess, 

 otters which run about the house, and generally behave 

 themselves like ordinary house dogs. One curious fact 

 is that the tame otter is perfectly docile, with the 

 exception that he will not allow his snout to be 

 handled, while the wild otter is both more nervous and 

 fiercer than any other English beast of the chase. One 

 of the few things that is certain is that the otter is not 

 an amphibious creature naturally, but only takes to the 

 water in order to procure its food. 



Now let us consider the otter-hound before dealing 

 with the present recognised methods of otter-hunting. 

 The thoroughbred otter-hound is really a Welsh 

 harrier, bearing much the same resemblance to the 

 English harrier as the Welsh terrier bears to the fox- 

 terrier. At the present time, hov/ever, the so-called 

 packs of otter-hounds are invariably mixed packs. We 



