RABBITING 47 



the rising ground. Half-way up the slope she 

 suddenly turned and looked at the cubs as if 

 a careless step had annoyed her, but at once 

 resumed her stalk. Presently her nostrils 

 twitched ; she had scented a rabbit that was 

 feeding just over the brow. Coming within 

 sight of the unsuspecting creature she gathered 

 herself for a spring, and a fox could scarcely 

 have launched itself more swiftly than did the 

 otter. A timely movement, however, saved the 

 rabbit, which, with others feeding there, gained 

 the shelter of the bank. Balked of her prey, 

 the otter stood for a moment where the unavail- 

 ing leap had taken her, but as soon as the cubs 

 came up she made for the biggest of the holes, 

 and through it all three disappeared. Rabbits 

 popping out here and there along the bank 

 showed how quickly the otters traversed the 

 set, and presently the male cub, looking with its 

 arched back like a big ferret, issued from the 

 hole out of which a rabbit had come and, follow- 

 ing the scent with great eagerness, entered 

 another hole into which it had darted. The 

 mother otter, meanwhile, had been more suc- 

 cessful, for a squeal underground heralded her 

 appearance with a dead rabbit in her mouth, 

 closely followed by the cubs. When she had 



