CHAPTER XII 



THE OTTERHOUND 



WHEN fox-hunting, beagling, coursing, and shooting 

 have had their season, otter-hunting begins, and thus 

 provides sport -loving men and women with occupa- 

 tion during the otherwise blank summer months. It 

 is a great sport, too, and its votaries have to bej 

 uncommonly fit in wind and limb. Having stood 

 the test of many centuries, it is probably more popular 

 to-day than ever it was. A pack will consist of 

 some ten or fourteen couples, and is very frequently 

 nondescript in appearance, being composed possibly 

 of a few pure -bred Otterhounds, of Foxhounds, 

 and cross breeds. Mr. Buckley, who had a pack in 

 Wales, used a Bloodhound, but he was not altogether 

 satisfied with the result, considering the progeny to 

 be much too tender. The pure -bred Otterhound is 

 a very striking-looking animal, as may be seen from 

 the picture of one of the Dumfriesshire pack which 

 illustrates this chapter. He is powerfully built, with 

 ideal legs and feet, great depth of rib, and fine 

 muscular development. His head is not altogether 

 unlike that of the Bloodhound, although the ears are 

 not quite so long, nor do they hang so gracefully. 

 The skull is also broader, the shoulders slope well, 



