THE BOOK OF THE OTTER 



We have already seen that the otter must do 

 good by killing sickly or wounded salmon, and in 

 the same way with trout, he captures many an old 

 cannibal fish which is far better out of the water. 

 These old trout not only prey on their own smaller 

 relations, but are great devourers of fish spawn, and 

 the same applies, only in a much greater degree, 

 to eels, which are the worst vermin in or about a 

 river or lake. Many coarse fish, too, are inimical 

 to spawn and young fry, therefore the otter does 

 far more good than harm by feeding on them. 

 Eels and frogs, the latter being skinned by an 

 otter, are the first quarry that the bitch otter 

 teaches her cubs to hunt. These are sought for 

 on land and in the wet ditches and shallow runners. 

 Later, the cubs are initiated in the art of fishing. 



When first introduced to water, the cubs show 



considerable reluctance to swim. This can hardly 



be because they are unable to do so, but rather 



owing to a youthful aversion — as in the case of a 



puppy — to entering a strange element for the first 



time. The bitch therefore takes them to a stone 



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