THE BOOK OF THE OTTER 



its eyes, thus a period of thirty days elapsed from 



the time of its birth until it could see. At the end 



of the thirty days the cub weighed 14 ounces. It 



was at first fed on milk and water, but became very 



thin on this diet, so a change was made to 



" Mellins " as mixed for a new-born child. On 



this the cub thrived, its weight on October nth 



being just under 2 lb. It was taken from the holt 



on August 20th. Had this cub been fed in the 



ordinary way by its mother it would possibly have 



opened its eyes at a rather earlier date, as it would 



have escaped the set-back caused by an unsuitable 



diet. The eyes of the adult otter are very dark 



coloured, but those of a cub are at first much 



lighter, not unlike the eyes of a young fox cub. 



When the cubs are able to travel, the bitch otter 



leads them down from the head-waters to the larger 



streams. The cubs remain with their mother for 



some considerable time, as witness the constant 



occurrence of cubs of from 10 lb. to 12 lb. being 



put down in company with the bitch. They 



consort with their mother until she goes off to rear 



46 



