THE OTTER. 129 



uncommon. Gestation occupies about sixty-one 

 days, and not more than one litter is produced 

 each year. The young are born blind, and remain 

 so for seventy or eighty days, being directly 

 dependent upon the milk of the dam for fourteen 

 or fifteen weeks. During this period the father 

 plays no part in their upbringing ; or, rather, he 

 plays a very important part indirectly, for, though 

 he never sees them, he looks well after the dam, 

 and is eternally on sentry -duty near the holt. 

 The young first see daylight at the age of about 

 eighty days, when, with the opening of their eyes, 

 the mother digs a dry-land exit from the burrow, 

 and encourages them to creep out into the moon- 

 light. They do not take naturally to a fish diet, 

 and it requires many patient lessons and much 

 persistent example on the mother's part to induce 

 each cub to swallow his first finny meal. Each 

 day thereafter the fish diet is increased and the 

 drain on the mother reduced. At the age of 

 about ninety days they are taken to the water. 

 At first they like it no better than so many 

 domestic kittens, and they have to be taught 

 lesson by lesson the art of swimming. One 

 youngster at a time is carried out into the pool on 

 its mother's back, and deposited there to fend for 

 itself. At this juncture the father begins to lend 

 a hand, the dam at last yielding to his burning 

 desire to sniff one of the tiny mites over, and 

 thereafter one or another drifts into his charge. 



Their training is not hurried, [and many days 

 may elapse ere any of them can be induced to 

 follow their parents under the water. They are 

 taught that the otter who is prepared to dive is 

 rewarded by a delicious catch of miller's-thumbs 

 among the pebbles, and thus by easy stages, 



W.A. I 



