( 197 ) 



THE SACRIFICE TO TROUT. 



How much the breeding of pheasants has told upon 

 the existence of other creatures in fur and feathers 

 I have already shown ; and much the same thing is 

 true of the preservation of trout. There is this differ- 

 ence, however : that while the pheasant has now pro- 

 duced its utmost effect, the alterations due to trout 

 are increasing. Trout are now so highly and so widely 

 preserved that the effect cannot but be felt. Their 

 preservation in the numbers now considered necessary 

 entails the destruction of some «,nd the banishment 

 of other creatures. The most important of these is the 

 otter. Guns, dogs, traps set under water so as not 

 to be scented; all modes of attack are pressed into 

 the service, and it is not often that he escapes. 

 When traces of an otter were found, a little while 

 since, in the Kennet — he had left his mark on the back 

 of a trout — the fact was recorded with as much 

 anxiety as if a veritable wolf had appeared. With 

 such animosity has the otter been hunted that he is 

 becoming one of the rarest of wild animals here in 

 the south. He is practically extinct on the majority 

 of southern streams, and has been almost beaten 

 off the Thames itself. But the otter is not likely 



