OTTER-HUNTING 271 



and by sunrise next morning he may be resting 

 himself at some other refuge in the next county. 

 He is here to-day, gone to-morrow, and unless it 

 be a bitch with cubs, no man can say where an 

 otter is certain of being found. 



In the hottest months of spring and autumn, 

 when every other form of hunting is at an end, 

 the pursuit of the otter is at its height. Both 

 men and hounds can stand the constant immer- 

 sions better in warm weather, and the only hard- 

 ship then is that of early rising. There is a 

 fascination in itself merely watching hounds work 

 a stream, and even when they find nothing you 

 feel yourself well repaid for turning out at day- 

 break. You are expecting hounds to hit a drag 

 every minute, and who shall say that in the 

 expectation is not more than half the pleasure ? 

 The ideal stream for an otter is a rippling brook 

 or river, full of deeps and shallows, with over- 

 hanging banks that will conceal the entrance 

 to his underground home. Here he wanders 

 through the night for many miles, sometimes 

 surprising a fat trout or eel, and then, taking a 

 turn on land, will vary his repast with a succulent 

 frog. As daylight approaches he hurries on to 



