280 OTTER-HUNTING 



for a display of craft and resource than any other 

 form of hunting. In every chase the first rule is 

 to acquire a knowledge of the habits of the 

 animal you hunt, and the more obscure the ways 

 of the creature, the greater the interest in finding 

 them out. Very little is known of the otter, and 

 I do not think any one has even yet fixed the time 

 they go with young. Like all other animals, the 

 spring is the natural breeding season, but I believe 

 cubs have been found at all periods of the year. 

 I do not know whether it has ever been tried to 

 breed them in captivity, but I see no reason why 

 it should not be successful. 



No man should attempt to hunt otter-hounds 

 who is not blessed with a good constitution, for 

 being continually in the water will try him very 

 severely, and though he may expect warm weather 

 in the summer, there will often be days when an 

 east wind will make it as cold as winter. The 

 huntsman and whips should always arrange to 

 have a change of clothes somewhere handy when 

 any distance from home. Youth is generally 

 careless about these details, but it generally has 

 to pay for it in the end, and to be laid on 

 the shelf with rheumatic fever in the prime of 



