A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE 



danger of passing the otter. The scent of an 

 otter lies for a long time, though the duration 

 naturally depends on the weather and on the 

 land. Some of the younger hounds will often 

 mark at an old nest, and the hounds generally will 

 speak to the scent three or four days after the 

 otter has gone by ; and in some places, where 

 otters have habitually walked for long periods, the 

 ground becomes so saturated that the hounds can 

 own it six months afterwards. 



The drag may continue for ten miles or more, 

 and is either then run out, in which case it is 

 known they have been hunting heel (though the 

 older hounds generally have a preference for run- 

 ning in the right direction at the start), or the 

 hounds mark at some strong holt, and bay 

 furiously, tearing at it with teeth and claws. 

 The terrier is then put in and the otter bolted, 

 when his ' chain ' may be viewed ; but in any 

 case the hounds at once leave the holt. If during 

 the hunt the otter shows rapidly, a number of 

 times in succession, it means that it is taking in 

 air, in order to take a long and desperate dive. 

 It is not swimming all the time it is under water, 

 but frequently walks along the bottom, especially 

 in shallow places. 



As this was news to me, I wrote to Mr. 

 Uthwatt asking if this was beyond a doubt. 

 He was unfortunately out of the reach of 

 letters at the time (somewhere up country in 

 South America), but Mrs. Uthwatt kindly 

 wrote, saying she knew her husband was 

 quite convinced this is the case, and that her 

 brother-in-law, who has hunted the hounds 

 for a great many years, is quite of the same 

 opinion. 



The otter is always some feet in front of its 

 ' chain,' which is formed by its breath and the 

 air contained in the fur. Sometimes when lost it 

 betrays its whereabouts by taking in breath with 

 a sort of gasping sigh, but it takes a keen ear to 

 distinguish it. 



On one occasion (in Warwickshire) the Bucks 

 otter hounds ran a drag through eight fields of 

 standing corn, from the river Itchin to the Learn. 

 Even when shallows (of which there are however 

 not many in Bucks) are lined two men deep, to 

 keep the otter in a certain direction, it often 

 breaks through. 



Though the Bucks otters are not so quick and 

 muscular as those of mountainous districts, not 

 having swift streams to fight, yet they are not 

 nearly so easy to kill, owing to the abundance of 

 cover, the depth and muddiness of the streams, 

 and the fact that the water carries no scent after it 

 has been stirred up once or twice by the hounds. 



An otter seems to know that he leaves a strong 

 wash in the water, and often when being hunted 

 goes down to rapid water, in order to lead the 

 hounds from him, and then goes up stream and 

 lies up. 



other reasons, the otters in their nocturnal 

 travels show a preference for following the 

 old course of the river, even when quite dry 

 and is the furthest way.' A pack of otter 

 hounds was formerly kept at Tyringham, and 

 hunted by the late Rev. C. W. Selby 

 Lowndes. A pack was also kept for a short 

 time by Sir H. Hoare at Wavendon, about 

 two years before the pack of which Mr. 

 Uthwatt is the successful master was started 

 in 1880. There was also a pack kept at 

 Rowsham Park on the Cherwell (Oxford- 

 shire) by an ancestor of the present owner of 

 the property. 



I have had on several occasions (successful) 

 otter hunts about the lawn of my old home 

 at Great Marlow after otters that had escaped 

 from their cage, in one instance tailing it 

 within two or three yards of the water's 

 edge. One otter did escape, and subse- 

 quently paid several visits to our lawn. On 

 one occasion, after a fall of snow, I tracked 

 her a long distance inland, nearly to her old 

 cage. Over a year after she escaped she 

 (presuming it was the same individual) put 

 her foot into a rat trap, which did not hold 

 her, but caused her to discontinue her visits. 

 Undoubtedly wild otters occasionally visited 

 our lawn, and three weeks after I caught the 

 adult female mentioned as the largest female 

 I have measured from the Thames an otter 

 visited her cage during the night. On some 

 few occasions besides that above mentioned I 

 have either seen or heard otters in the river. 

 The best view of one was obtained in one of 

 the backwaters at Harleyford (Great Marlow), 

 when a fisherman (long since dead) and I 

 were proceeding in a boat perfectly noiselessly 

 according to our custom, and an otter sud- 

 denly rose to the surface of the water along- 

 side the boat, and almost within reach of one 

 of the sculls. Neither of us men moved a 

 muscle, but remained as rigid as if suddenly 

 turned to stone, and the otter floated along- 

 side us staring in utter astonishment for some 

 few minutes, until I suppose it had collected 

 its wits, when it sank out of sight. 



The most amusing animal I ever kept was 

 a tame otter hand-reared in the house (this 

 was the one I bred from). I have never 

 ceased to regret I did not write down at the 

 time the many proofs of her extraordinary 

 sagacity, and the equally numerous instances 

 of unmistakable humour ; but even as it is, 

 many queer acts of hers, and of many of the 

 other otters I have kept, might be added to 

 this already overgrown section. 



Mr. Uthwatt has ' noticed that where a [The Pinnipeds (seals) and Cetaceans 

 river has been diverted by a railway or for (whales and dolphins) are naturally, from 



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