REMINISCENCES 



some difficulty in owning the wash. That otter 

 would most certainly have convinced anyone who 

 was sceptical of Lutras activity and running 

 powers. 



We have already mentioned the fondness that 

 otters have — particularly in Canada — for sliding. 

 When engaged in this amusement, they tuck their 

 forelegs in, and toboggan down the bank on their 

 stomachs. This season (192 1), whilst the Conis- 

 ton Foxhounds were hunting on the fells, a couple 

 and a half of hounds ran a fox in the direction of 

 an earth on which some of the field were standing. 

 About the same time, an otter suddenly ran out 

 from some rocks near the main earth, and after 

 going some distance, tucked in its head and fore- 

 legs, and actually rolled some yards downhill. 

 We were on the opposite side of the valley at the 

 time, but a very keen and experienced fox and otter 

 hunter who was there, and witnessed the incident, 

 said that he had never seen anything like it before 

 in his life. 



A name to conjure with in the annals of Lake- 



137 



