126 THE OTTER. 



down, into the pounding surf to be caught by the 

 eddies of the whirlpool and sucked into its very 

 vortex. Drifting limply, yet with every force at 

 its command, the otter plays such games when the 

 lights of the village are dimmed when the mist- 

 wraiths beat against the alders, and the woods 

 resound with a creeping drip, drip, drip ! Rain 

 and wind detract not a jot from its joy of living ; 

 moonlight or starlight, its happiness is complete 

 this creature that knows no enemy other than man 

 and his dogs, and for whom nature has provided 

 so liberally that it spends nine-tenths of its joyous 

 life in frolics. 



AFFECTION. 



When good fortune permits it, the otter remains 

 mated for life, though naturally many bonds are 

 severed by the activities of otter-hounds, &c. 

 The faithfulness of these animals to one another is 

 very strong, and in this connection a miller living 

 in Northamptonshire tells the following story. 



One evening he heard an otter diving and 

 creating a great disturbance in a bed of rushes 

 at one corner of the mill-dam. As night fell 

 the animal appeared to become more and more 

 excited, snorting and calling, and making as much 

 noise as a horse in the water. This he kept up 

 all night, even disturbing the sleep of the house- 

 hold ; so next morning the miller went down to 

 ascertain, if he could, the cause of the disturbance. 

 Among some old logs behind the reed- bed he 

 found a dead bitch-otter. The poor animal had 

 evidently been creeping about among the logs, 

 when she disturbed the whole structure, bringing 

 a veritable avalanche on to her head, one of the 

 logs, which still imprisoned her body, killing her 



