130 Otters and Otter-Hunting. 



shout. Never *' tally " because another man thinks 

 he has ' ' gazed ' ' the Otter : leave him to do the 

 shouting and to bear the blame if he be wrong. 



In deep, dark, slow-running water you will not 

 see the Otter at all. What you will see will be a 

 number of air-bells, or bubbles, rising to the surface 

 of the water and following the course which the 

 unseen quarry is seeking. Their rapid movement, 

 their number and size, will prevent your mistaking 

 them for the bubbles caused by eels and tench, 

 and when you '' tally " you should point with your 

 pole at the spot where they disappeared from view. 



In very muddy water, especially on a narrow 

 canal or mill-leat much overhung by bushes, you 

 may not even see the '' chain," or " belling " as it 

 is sometimes called. What you will see is a V-shaped 

 ripple or wave on the surface of the stream, the 

 apex of the V being caused by the Otter's snout, 

 from which you can learn in what direction he is 

 swimming. He will not remain long in sight, but 

 will dive and come up to breathe under a floating 

 leaf, some dead brushwood, behind a boulder, or 

 under the bank. 



When an Otter has been on the swim for some 

 little while, especially in a deep pool or a stretch 

 of water, well watched and with little cover on the 

 banks, he will begin to show himself. Now is the 

 time to look for the Otter himself in place of mere 



