THE OTTER. 123 



Adapting themselves to circumstances, they live 

 under the ice along the margins of the great 

 lakes, perhaps not appearing above the surface 

 for days on end. After the freeze-up the lakes 

 usually sink a little, owing to the sealing of the 

 creeks, with the result that along the shores and 

 surrounding the boulders shallow air-spaces are 

 formed, to which the otters resort to rest and 

 breathe. Sometimes, where the ice is clear of 

 snow, the otters in Canada are killed by the 

 Indians, who follow them about hither and 

 thither till they become exhausted. They are 

 then left to drown, and the ice is ultimately 

 broken ; or, alternatively, a steel spear is carried 

 in a hollow tube, and when a favourable oppor- 

 tunity occurs the tube is flung downwards, and 

 the spear, thus ejected, penetrates the ice and 

 impales the body of the unfortunate creature just 

 beneath. This is a method largely employed by 

 the Canadian Indians in hunting musquash. 



A WILD OTTER IN CAPTIVITY. 



When a boy of about fourteen, I one day watched 

 an otter enter a drain which, I knew, terminated 

 in the centre of a meadow. My first act was 

 securely to stop up both ends of the drain, then 

 run for the gamekeeper, who, like myself, had a 

 perfect mania for catching things alive. Having 

 heard my story, he produced a chicken-coop which 

 had the usual type of sliding door, and this we 

 fixed at one end of the drain, building it up so 

 that we could push down the door should the 

 otter prove sufficiently obliging to bolt into the 

 coop. 



When all was ready, a small Welsh terrier, 

 whose real business was in the badger line, was 



