230 The Hunting Field With Horse and Hound 



Otterhounds, get hold of the old man's nerves; they jar him, 

 and scolding is something he cannot abide. Therefore he 

 never ventures in again until the family is groAvn or he finds 

 the broomstick has been removed from before the door, wliich 

 is taken as a sign of welcome by any gentleman otter passing 

 that way, or, as the English say, who put the sign "apart- 

 ments" in their windows at the seaside resorts, "We don't take 

 roomers, but we might entertain a proposition to take respect- 

 able 'paying guests.' " 



Like all poachers and rovers the otter leads an exciting and 

 happy hfe. He has a keen eye for the largest fish in a stream 

 and a special tooth for salmon trout. To be perfectly frank 

 about it, the otter is a thief and is accordingly taken without 

 compunction. He eats quantities of frogs and snails, and has 

 been known to take ducks under water, and to kill young lambs. 

 When he inhabits well stocked streams, he only troubles to cut 

 a piece out of the shoulder of the largest trout and leaves the 

 rest of the fish on the bank. His presence is often discovered 

 in this way. 



"A jolly life the otter leads 



That lurks hy Eden water; 

 He has nothing to do hut fish about 



And take his j)ick of the eels and trout 

 That revel at dusk among the weeds. 



The dainty old thief of an otter." 



He not only kills the trout but drives them to deeper 

 streams beyond the reach of the fisherman's alluring flies. It 

 is amusing, however, to hear some jealous otter hunters claim- 

 ing the otter does not kill fish. This sounds like the over- 

 jealous fox hunters who talk about foxes not kiUing chickens. 

 The writer prefers to take the other view and to feel all the 

 time when in pursuit of the game that a thief is before him 



