OTTER 285 



With the fall of twilight the otter starts fishing, swimming up-stream all the 

 while ; it seems to frighten the fish by a piercing whistle, uttered from time to 

 time, driving them to spots where they can be easily taken. It will also drive 

 them into holes in the bank or under stones, by beating the surface of the water 

 with its tail. When a small fish is captured, the otter raises its head from the 

 water and devours it at once, but if a larger fish be the victim, it is carried to the 

 shore, to a stone, or some other elevated spot where it can be eaten at leisure. 

 Before its meal an otter looks cautiously round, and then bites the back of the fish 

 behind the head, tearing off the flesh in strips. When food is plentiful only the 

 best pieces are eaten, the head and tail being left untouched. Beneath the ice an 

 otter swims as easily as in open water ; and it will lie for hours by the waterside 

 lurking for its prey, to dart upon it like an arrow as soon as a fish comes near 

 In catching tame ducks it attacks them from below, or dashes amongst them 

 from the bottom of the water, carrying the victim to the bank, where its bones 

 are soon picked clean. Otters occasionally kill birds which are asleep in flocks 

 among reeds, especially those on migration. The footprint — the so called " seal " 

 — of an otter shows the mark of the five toes with the web, and is not unlike that 

 of the badger, although the marks are wider, rounder, and closer together, while 

 the short prints of the claws are unmistakable. Otter-tracks on snow or soft 

 ground are generally very distinct ; they do not form an uninterrupted line, but 

 show gaps at every few steps ; and as an otter occasionally comes ashore several 

 times in succession to run round in a circle and dive into the water before talcing 

 shelter, it is not always to be found where the trail ends. Sometimes a pair of 

 fresh otter-tracks will lead into a burrow, and although no otter is at home, only 

 a single track leads out ; this is owing to one of the animals having left by the 

 opening under the water. The otter often betrays itself by its voice. Males and 

 females call each other by a long, melodious whistling ; when in pursuit of fish 

 the whistle is much shriller ; if the otter be at its ease, it utters a low gurgle, 

 similar to the laugh of a child ; if in a fury, or in pain, it breaks into an ear- 

 splitting shriek, an often and quickly repeated girrk ; and in its agony utters a 

 plaintive whine. 



Young otters have been taken at quite different seasons, but pairing seems to 

 take place with a certain regularity at the end of February, the beginning of 

 March, and the end of July. During such times, male and female, while playing 

 together in the water, chase and tease each other. Nine weeks after pairing, which 

 in central Europe is generally in May, the female gives birth in a burrow on land 

 to two or four blind young, which are at first quite black. After nine or ten days 

 they open their eyes, and at the age of about two months are taken by the mother 

 to accompany her on fishing expeditions. They remain for another half year under 

 the superintendence of the parents, and are usually full grown and mature in the 

 second year. The mother places her young on a soft warm grass cushion, nurses 

 them with the greatest care, anxiously tries to hide their whereabouts, never 

 leaving a trace or a footprint that would betray them, brings them up in the way 

 an otter should go, delivers them if possible from captivity, and defends them, when 

 necessary, with great courage, not only against dogs but even against man himself. 

 On the west coast of Ireland, and elsewhere, otters catch their prey in the sea. 



