60 ANIMAL LIFE OF THE BRITISH ISLES. 



is tail. The weight of a full-grown male is between 20 Ibs. and 

 25 Ibs., but occasionally it exceeds 27 Ibs. Pennant records 

 one of 40 Ibs. ! The female weighs less than the male by about 

 four pounds. The dental formula is i ^ c\^p^ m\ 36. The 

 molar teeth have sharp tubercles on the crown. 



Where the presence of Otters is suspected, a keen look-out 

 should be kept for their footprints known as " seal " or 

 " spur " (spoor) on moist ground, which may help us to find 

 its " holt" or lair, which will probably be a hole in the bank 

 with the entrance under water and overhung by alders and rank 

 herbage, There may also be an alternative way in at the back 

 of the bank above water. Here the Otter rests secluded in the 

 daytime, coiled up like a dog with its tail around its face. The 

 " spraints," or droppings, are also a good clue for the observer. 

 A short distance in from the mouth of the tunnel, a side- 

 chamber will be found, which is the family midden. 



About the time of sunset the Otter wakes up, utters his 

 flute-like whistle, enters the water, and hunts favourite pools in 

 the stream for fish, which it secures by diving below them. 

 These are always brought to the bank to be consumed. The * 

 backbone is first bitten through behind the gills ; and where 

 fish are large (salmon) and plentiful the Otter often contents 

 himself with a mouthful from the shoulder. At other times he 

 may eat methodically from this point to the tail, which is 

 always left. Apart from the fact that he has to make frequent 

 visits to the surface in order to breathe, he is as much at home 

 in the water as a fish, swimming in circles where the water is 

 deep, and his movements in that element are as graceful as 

 those of the fishes he pursues. Not that his diet is restricted 

 to fish : he is very fond of the river crayfish, and will turn over 

 every stone in his section of the stream in his search for them. 

 He is known also to consume frogs, which he carefully skins 

 before eating them. Occasionally he indulges in wild duck or 

 moorhen ; and when he hunts on shore may catch a rabbit 



