62 ANIMAL LIFE OF THE BRITISH ISLES. 



between jealous males ; but this business disposed of a nursery 

 nest or " hover " is constructed of rushes and grass, and lined 

 with the soft, purple flower panicles of the great reed. Here, 

 in the winter, the bitch Otter brings forth her two or three blind 

 young. They are already covered with a fine downy fur. 

 Both parents hunt to provide them with food, and in due course 

 they are taken out one night to be taught the way of life in the 

 waters. The partnership of the parents is only temporary, and 

 as soon as the young ones are capable of taking care of them- 

 selves, the old dog Otter goes to live by himself. The mother 

 remains with her family until the rutting season returns, when 

 she also departs to find another mate. In Norfolk the nursery 

 is frequently found on the surface, in the great reed-beds. 



The chief enemy of the Otter is the river-keeper on waters 

 that are preserved for fishing, who has always his traps set for 

 them. This is somewhat strange when it is remembered that 

 the Otter is also an animal of the chase, packs of Otter-hounds 

 still being kept like fox-hounds in certain districts, though the 

 packs are by no means so numerous as in former times. The 

 flesh of the Otter is rank and fishy-flavoured, and therefore not 

 in demand for human food ; but there are many records showing 

 that it has been esteemed for use on days when the rules of the 

 Church permitted fish only to be eaten, the clerical casuists 

 easily finding that as it spends most of its active life in the 

 water and has a fishy taste, it must be a kind of a fish ! 

 Readers of dear old Izaak Walton will remember the Otter- 

 hunter's reply when Piscator asks him whether he hunts a beast 

 or a fish. The Huntsman says 



" Sir, it is not in my power to resolve you ; yet I leave it to 

 be resolved by the College of Carthusians, who have made vows 

 never to eat flesh. But I have heard the question hath been 

 debated among many great clerks, and they seem to differ 

 about it ; yet most agree that her tail is fish ; and if her body 

 be fish too, then I may say that a fish will walk upon land (for 



