The Haunts and Habits of the British Otter. 23 



Indeed, knowledgable people, whether proprietors 

 of fisheries or secretaries of angling clubs, are be- 

 ginning to recognise that by their enormous destruc- 

 tion of eels and frogs — to say nothing of moorhens 

 and other enemies of fish-spawn — Otters (in reason) 

 do more good than harm to a trout stream ; and that 

 the only humane and sportsmanlike method of keep- 

 ing them within the due bounds to which in all 

 " over-civilised " countries, such as Britain has be- 

 come, the natural fauna must be confined, is by 

 regularly hunting them with recognised packs of 

 hounds. 



Otters are capable of great natural affection, as 

 shown by the way in which a bitch will hang about 

 the spot where her young may be, in the teeth of 

 hounds, until she is killed. Although for the most 

 part silent beasts, and invariably so when being 

 hunted. Otters give vent to a flute-like whistle when 

 calling to each other after dusk on a pond or stretch 

 of water ; and if one be caught in a trap another 

 will blow and snort near it all night in its endeavours 

 to get it freed. Tame Otters, at the sight of food, 

 will make a curious noise, as nearly like that of a 

 cat mewing for a piece of fish as may be, with some- 

 thing of a hiss mingled with the '' mewing." 



Cubs taken young are quite readily reared and 

 tamed ; but in these days they are far better left in a 

 wild state. Many Masters of Otter-hounds have kept 



