LAKE DWELLERS. 189 



two first-cousins, as they appear to be, the beaver and 

 the musk rat,^'' yet, as the heading is somewhat fanciful, 

 and my object is to notice the water-frequenting mam- 

 malia of the woods, I will proceed to mention other 

 animals which prowl round the margins of lakes or 

 brooks, more or less taking to the water, under the sub- 

 divisional title of " dwellers by lake shores." 



THE OTTER of Eastern America (Lutra Canadensis), 

 (there is a distinct species found on the Pacific slope,) 

 differs from the European animal in colour, size, and con- 

 formation. The former is much the darkest coloured, a 

 peculiarity attached to many North American mammals 

 when compared with their Old- World congeners. It is 

 also the largest. Taken per se, but slight importance 

 w^ould attach to such variations ; and it is on the grounds 

 of well-ascertained osteological difi'erences only that the 

 separation of species in the case of both the beaver and 

 the otter of America has been agreed on. 



The Canadian otter measures from nose to tip of tail, 

 in a large specimen, between four and a-half and five feet; 

 its colour is a dark chestnut brown or liver, and its fur is 

 very close and lustrous. Under the throat and belly it is 

 lighter, approaching to tawny. The breeding season is in 

 February and early March (of wild cat and fox, ibid), and 

 the she otter brings forth in May a litter of three or four 

 pups. The clear whistle of the otter is a very common 

 sound to the ear of the occupant of a fishing camp, and 

 the Indians frequently call them up by successful imita- 

 tion of their note. The skin is valuable and much sought 



* The musk-rat is often found as an occupant of an old beaver-house 

 deserted by the latter animal. 



