1 8 Otters and Otter-Hunting. 



comparatively brief space of time. But the Otter 

 does more than this, by keeping down the number 

 of moorhens and dabchicks — also eaters of fish- 

 spawn ; thinning out the water-voles that do so 

 much to destroy the banks of navigable rivers; 

 and consuming large numbers of crayfish, which 

 destroy the larvge of the May-fly and other forms 

 of fish food. 



No doubt a few young rabbits are taken by the 

 bitch Otter after the birth of her litter, but stories 

 of poultry and ducks having been taken by Otters 

 have, so far as I can find, no unimpeachable evi- 

 dence to back them up. Long and hard frost 

 tries Otters more severely, perhaps, than most ani- 

 mals, closing against them all their customary 

 hunting grounds and driving them in desperation 

 to other shifts in order to obtain food. I have 

 known them under such conditions to come about 

 the kitchen quarters of a Highland shooting- lodge 

 at night in search of food, and doubtless a stray 

 duckling might, under such circumstances, fall a 

 victim to the ' ' sly goose-footed prowler ' ' on his 

 nocturnal quest of provender. 



Only in the sense that it deprives him of an ade- 

 quate food supply can the statement that " frost 

 is fatal to Otters" be justified. Even small birds 

 can live through the most intense cold if they have 

 sufficient to eat. It is starvation that weakens and 



