THE OTTER. 265 



every part, has had attention to the life of an animal whose 

 food is fish, and whose haunts must necessarily be about 

 water. 



This voracious animal is never found but at the sides of* 

 lakes and rivers, but particularly the former, for it is sel- 

 dom fond of fishing in a running stream, for the current 

 of the water having more power upon it than the fishes it 

 pursues, if it hunts against the stream, it swims too slow ; 

 and if with the stream, it overshoots its prey. However, 

 when in rivers, it is always observed to swim against the 

 stream, and to meet the fishes it preys upon rather than to 

 pursue them. In lakes it destroys much more than it de- 

 vours, and is often seen to spoil a pond in the space of a 

 few nights. But the damage they do by destroying fish is 

 not so great as their tearing in pieces the nets of the fish- 

 ers, which they infallibly do whenever they happen to be 

 entangled. The instant they find themselves caught, they 

 go to work with their teeth, and in a few^minutes destroy 

 nets of a very considerable value. 



The otter has two different methods of fishing ; the one, 

 by catching its prey from the bottom upward ; the other, 

 by pursuing it into some little creek, and seizing it there* 

 In the former case, as this animal has longer lungs than 

 most other quadrupeds, upon taking in a quantity of air, it 

 can remain for some minutes at the bottom ; and whatever 

 fish passes over at that time is certainly taken ; for as the 

 eyes of fish are placed so as not to see under them, the 

 otter attacks them off their guard from below ; and, seizing 

 them at once by the belly, drags them on shore, where it 

 often leaves them untouched, to continue the pursuit for 

 hours together. The other method is chiefly practised in 

 lakes and ponds, where there is no current ; the fish thus 

 taken are rather of the smaller kind, for the great ones will 

 never be driven out of deep water. 



In this manner, the otter usually lives during the sum- 

 mer, being furnished with a supply much greater than its 



