OTTER'S HAUNTS AND HABITS 



cannibal trout, and eels do far more damage to fish 

 and fish spawn than otters, and with the exception 

 of certain wildfowl, provide no sport in return. 

 The otter, like the fly-fisherman, is a sportsman, 

 and for this reason the one should deal leniently 

 with the other. 



Otters do most of their feeding and travelling 

 at night, but it is not an uncommon occurrence 

 to find them abroad in daytime. In Canada we 

 have on several occasions seen them on the ice 

 during the day, and once while watching a deer 

 runway near a river, a big otter floated down- 

 stream within twenty yards of us. Having fed 

 up-stream during the night, an otter may take to 

 some holt at the end of his journey, or he may 

 float down with the current — if the water is fairly 

 deep — and return to the holt from which he started. 

 Although an otter can make wonderful headway 

 against a strong current, he generally avoids rapids 

 and rough water when travelling up-stream. On 

 coming to such a place he lands, makes a detour, 



and enters the water again higher up. His 



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