THE OTTER PLAYS ON 71 



this struggle commonly a conqueror. "Yes," 

 said a lazy but observing trapper one evening 

 by my campfire, "the otter has more pecu- 

 liarities than any other animal of the wilderness. 

 Concealed under his one skin are three or four 

 kinds of animals." And this I found him. 

 Doubtless there are many interesting unre- 

 corded and unseen customs concerning this 

 inscrutable and half-mysterious animal. 



Possibly the otter heads the list in highly de- 

 veloped play habit. Sometimes numbers gather 

 in advance to prepare a place on which to play. 

 The otter slide rivals the beaver dam when wild 

 folks' ways are discussed. It is interesting that 

 this capable animal with a wide range of effi- 

 cient versatility should be the one that appears 

 to give the most regular attention to play. 



