THE OTTER 175 



really begins all hope of escape is cut off by a cordon of 

 hounds and waders who block the stream above and below. 

 The worry itself is a series of acts of cowardice and cruelty 

 that would shame savages. 



To see the Otter in perfection, two or three of the 

 animals ought to be in a playful mood, enjoying a skir- 

 mish in the water, ' rolling and diving, and twisting 

 and wrestling, and cuddling and kissing, and biting and 

 scratching, in the most charming fashion that ever was 

 seen/ The Otter chiefly hunts the water at night, but 

 daylight is no bar to the satisfaction of its appetite. In 

 December, 1908, at Middletown, in Ireland, there was a 

 tremendous fight between a great pike and an Otter in the 

 local canal. The pair repeatedly rose to the surface and 

 dived again, the water being coloured with blood. Finally, 

 the Otter, which lost an ear in the struggle, killed the pike 

 and dragged it ashore, where the victor was shot by an 

 onlooker. The fish weighed twenty-three pounds, very little 

 short of the weight of the finest specimens of British dog 

 Otters. 



The Otter is far from being destitute of intelligence and 

 docility ; it may be easily tamed, and has indeed been 

 frequently kept in a state of domestication. Bewick tells 

 of a Scotsman who employed one very successfully in 

 salmon-fishing, the animal sometimes taking nine or ten 

 fish in a day. It followed its master like a dog, and dis- 

 played great confidence and attachment. The chief 

 objection to the Otter in a wild state is that, when prey 

 is plentiful, it becomes exceedingly dainty, and after bring- 

 ing a salmon ashore will merely bite a piece from the 

 shoulder, leave the fish on the bank, and go after another. 

 The Scotch shepherds who are stationed near salmon 

 streams find the Otter one of their best friends, as it keeps 

 them supplied with fish season after season. 



In some parts of the world the Otter is quite extensively 

 tamed, and taught to catch fish for its master. The 

 Chinese and the Hindoos are great adepts at this art. 

 Bishop Heber mentions in his journal that when passing 

 near a river he saw nearly a dozen Otters lying on the banks, 

 tethered with straw collars and long ropes. They were 



