OTTER-HUNTING 



awakens the echoes as hounds mark soHdly, some 



of them tearing at the bank in their eagerness to 



have their quarry " out of that." There is no 



doubt he is at home, but if there was, you need 



only watch old Boatman swimming round and 



round beneath the holt in an endeavour to take the 



scent or " wash," to convince you that hounds are 



right. 



The great advantage of meeting early lies in the 



fact that if there is an otter or otters working 



the water that you propose to hunt, you are 



practically sure of finding a drag, which at that 



time of day will lie strongly. As already 



mentioned, otters lie rough, as well as in holts, and 



may be found almost anywhere, often far from the 



main river. Here is where you benefit by a warm 



trail, for there will be no doubt as to the point at 



which your quarry left the main river, and took to 



a side runner, or out across country to some pond 



or other favourite feeding ground. Supposing, 



however, that your otter has left a drag on the 



banks of the main river, which leads hounds 



83 



