THE BOOK OF THE OTTER 



As to how many years an otter in a wild state 

 will live, it is practically impossible to say. We 

 have seen otters killed by hounds, whose general 

 appearance and state of their teeth pointed to the 

 fact that they had arrived at a ripe old age. Otter 

 cubs of similar age have been found in every month 

 of the year, thus exploding the old supposition 

 that otters bred only in spring. Young bitch 

 otters appear to pair as soon as they arrive at 

 maturity, thus cubs are produced as above stated. 



Otters of abnormal colour make their appearance 

 from time to time. In the Badminnten volume on 

 " Hunting," there is an account of a cream-coloured 

 otter killed on the West Dart, while in " A Fauna 

 of Argyll " by Harvie-Brown and Buckley, there 

 is mention of a pure white otter which was killed 

 in Jura. 



Although a clean-feeding animal, the otter is 

 a creature one hardly associates with human food. 

 For all that the heart and other portions of an 

 otter's anatomy have been served up at table on 

 several occasions ere now, presumably we suppose 



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