THE OTTERHOUND. 



301 



The OTTERHOUND is now almost exclusively employed for the chase of the animal 

 from which it derives its name. Formerly it was largely used in Wales for the purpose 

 of hunting the hare, and from that pursuit has derived the name of " Welsh Harrier." 



It is a bold, hardy, and active animal, as is needful for any dog which engages in 

 the chase of so fierce and hard-biting a creature as the otter. As it is forced to take 

 to the water in search or in chase of its prey, it is necessarily endowed with great 

 powers of swimming, or it could never match that most amphibious of quadrupeds. 

 Those who have seen an otter when disporting itself in its congenial element must have 

 been struck with the exceeding rapidity and consummate ease of its movements, and 

 can appreciate the great aquatic powers that must be possessed by any Dog which en- 

 deavors to compete with so lithe an agile an antagonist. 



Great courage is needful on the part of the Dog, because the otter is, when irritated, 

 a peculiarly fierce animal, and can inflict most painful wounds by the bite of its long 

 sharp teeth. It is, moreover, so pliant of body that it can twist itself about almost like 



OTTERHOUND. -Can is famlUarls. 



a snake, and, if grasped heedlessly, can writhe itself about as actively and slipperily as 

 an eel, and unexpectedly plant its teeth in its antagonist's nose. Now, the nose is a 

 very sensitive portion of all animal economy, and a wound or a bite in that region causes 

 such exceeding pain that none but a well-bred Dog can endure the torture without 

 flinching. 



Such needful courage is found in the Otter Dog, but is sometimes rather prone to 

 degenerate into needless ferocity. There are few animals, with the exception of the 

 bull dog, which fight so savagely as the Otterhound, or bite so fiercely and with such 

 terrible results. The attack of the Otterhound is even more dangerous than that of the 

 bull-dog, and its bite more to be dreaded. As is well known, where the bull-dog has once 

 fixed his teeth there he hangs, and cannot be forced to loosen his hold without the 

 greatest difficulty ; but when the Otterhound bites, it instantly tears its teeth away 

 without relaxing its jaws, and immediately seizes its prey with a second gripe. The 

 wounds which it inflicts by this ferocious mode of action are of the most terrible 

 description, lacerating all the tissues, and tearing asunder the largest and most important 

 vessels. The reason for this very savage mode of attack is evident enough. The otter is 



