382 THE OTTER. 





The Badger is very susceptible of human influence, and can be effectually tamed 

 with but little trouble. It is generally set down as a stupid animal, but in reality is 

 possessed of -considerable powers of reasoning. One of these animals has been known 

 to set at defiance all the traps that were intended for its capture, and to devour the 

 baits without suffering for its temerity. On one occasion, the animal was watched out 

 of its burrow, and a number of traps set round the orifice, so that its capture appeared 

 to be tolerably certain. But when the Badger returned to its domicile, it set at nought 

 all the devices of the enemy, and by dint of jumping over some of the traps and roll- 

 ing over others, gained its home in safety. 



The colors of the Badger are gray, black, and white, which are rather curiously dis- 

 tributed. The head is white, with the exception of a rather broad and very definitely 

 marked black line on each side, commencing near the snout and ending at the neck, 

 including the eye and the ear in its course. The. body is of a reddish-gray, changing 

 to a white-gray on the ribs and tail. The throat, chest, abdomen, legs and feet are of 

 deep blackish-brown. The average length of the Badger is two feet six inches, and 

 its height at the shoulder eleven inches. 



ALTHOUGH by no means a large animal, the OTTER has attained a universal reputa- 

 tion as a terrible and persevering foe to fish. Being possessed of a very discriminating 

 palate, and invariably choosing the finest fish that can be found in the locality, the 

 Otter is the object of the profoundest hate to the proprietors of streams and by all 

 human fishermen. It is so dainty an animal that it will frequently kill several fish, 

 devouring only those portions which best please its palate, and leaving the remainder 

 on the banks to become the prey of rats, birds, or other fish-loving creatures. 



When the Otter is engaged in eating the fish which it has captured, it holds the 

 slippery prey between its forepaws, and, beginning with the back of the neck, eats away 

 the flesh from the neck towards the tail, rejecting the head, tail, and other portions. 

 In well-stocked rivers, the Otter is so extremely fastidious that it will catch and kill 

 four or five good fish in a single day, and eat nothing but the fine flaky meat which is 

 found on the shoulders. The neighboring rustics take advantage of this epicurean 

 propensity, and make many a meal upon the fish which have been discarded by the 

 dainty Otter. Sometimes, as in the very dry or the very cold seasons, the Otter is 

 forced to lay aside its fastidious notions, and is glad to find an opportunity of appeas- 

 ing its hunger with any kind of animal food. Driven by hunger, the Otter has been 

 known to travel overland for five or six miles, and is sometimes so hardly pressed that 

 it will have recourse to vegetable substances in default of its usual animal food. In 

 such trying seasons, the Otter is too apt to turn its attention to the farmyard, and to 

 become very destructive to poultry of all kinds, to young pigs, and lambs. One of 

 these animals was captured in a rabbit-warren, whither it had evidently wandered 

 with the intention of feeding on the rabbits. 



For the pursuit of its finny prey the Otter is admirably adapted by nature. The 

 body is lithe and serpentine ; the feet are furnished with a broad web that connects 

 the toes, and is of infinite service in propelling the animal through the water ; the tail is 

 long, broad, and flat, proving a powerful and effectual rudder by which its movements 

 are directed ; and the short, powerful legs are so loosely jointed that the animal can turn 

 them in almost any direction. The hair which covers the body and limbs is of two kinds, 

 the one a close, fine, and soft fur, which lies next the skin and serves to protect the 

 animal from the extremes of heat and cold, and the other composed of long, shining, and 

 coarser hairs, which permit the animal to glide easily through the water. The teeth 

 are sharp and strong, and of great service in preventing the slippery prey from escaping. 



The color of the Otter varies slightly according to the light in which it is viewed, 

 but is generally of a rich brown tint, intermixed with whitish-gray. This color is lighter 

 along the back and the outside of the legs than on the other parts of the body, which are 

 of a paler grayish hue. Its habitation is made in the bank of the river which it frequents, 

 and is rather inartificial in its character, as the creature is fonder of occupying some 

 natural crevice or deserted excavation than of digging a burrow for itself. The nest of the 

 Otter is composed of dry rushes, flags, or other aquatic plants, and is purposely placed as 



