OTTER. 59 



Otter (Lutra vulgaris, Erxleben). 



The Otter is by no means the nearly extinct beast that is 

 commonly imagined ; but he who would see it in a wild state 

 must seek it by night along the banks of remote streams or 

 tarns, where there are alder-holts, or in the neighbourhood of 

 the East Anglian Broads. It may sometimes be found by day, 

 by searching the caves on some remote part of our coast where 

 the cliffs are rocky and the shore strewn with boulders. Even 

 so near the congested haunts of men as the upper Thames, 

 Otters are occasionally trapped. 



If one has the good fortune to get a good view of the Otter 

 in such places it will be found to be a very different creature 

 from the specimens in zoological gardens. The long, lithe 

 body, clad in fine smooth fur and ending in the long thick 

 tapering tail, gives it a very graceful appearance in the water ; 

 and, of course, it is a most expert and agile swimmer. The 

 head is broad and flattened from above, the face short, the 

 black eyes small but bright, and the short, rounded ears hairy. 

 The ears are closed when under water. The legs are short and 

 powerful, and all the feet are completely webbed. There are 

 five toes on each, with short pointed claws, those of the hind 

 feet flat and nail-like. The tail is somewhat flattened from the 

 sides, and forms a most efficient rudder. Below its thick base 

 there is a pair of glands which secrete a fetid fluid. The fur is 

 of two kinds : a fine, soft, under-fur of whitish-grey with brown 

 tips, among which are interspersed longer, thicker, and glossy 

 hairs. Water does not penetrate the under-fur. On the upper 

 parts and the outer sides of the limbs, these longer hairs, 

 which have a grey base, have rich brown ends ; but on the 

 cheeks, throat, and under parts they are brownish-grey. At a 

 little distance it appears to be of a uniform dusky brown tint. 

 White, cream-coloured, and spotted examples are on record. 



The total length is about four feet, of which about one-third 



