442 COMMON OTTER. 



room, and would lie by night on a bed, and, dur- 

 ing the day-time, on a heap of straw provided for 

 it : it would occasionally plunge its head and fore 

 feet into a vessel of water, which always stood 

 near it; and, after shaking itself, would go 

 out into the court yard for exercise, &c. and 

 would often sleep in the sunshine. It seemed 

 in a manner to have lost the natural habits of its 

 kind; since, being carried one day to a pool of 

 Avater, it seemed afraid, and would not go into it, 

 but only wetted its head and feet, as in its cham- 

 ber; and when thrown in, to the distance of some 

 feet, it instantly made to the shore, as if in a kind 

 of alarm, and followed readily to the Abbey. 



When the Otter, in its natural or uneducated 

 state, has caught a fish, it immediately draws it 

 ashore, and devours the head and upper parts, 

 leaving the remainder; and when in a state of 

 captivity, will eat no fish but what is perfectly 

 fresh, but will prefer bread, milk, &c. The Ot T 

 'ter, says Buffon, is as noxious in a fish-pond as 

 the Polecat in a hen-roost; since he frequently 

 kills many more fish than he can eat, and then 

 carries oif one in his teeth. The Otter will some- 

 times devour vegetables of different kinds, and 

 will gnaw the bark and twigs of young trees. 

 The flesh of the Otter is rank and fishy. The 

 Romish church permits the use of it on maigre- 

 days, and Mr. Pennant declares, that, in the 

 kitchen of the Carthusian convent, near Dijon, 

 he saw one preparing for the dinner of the reli- 



