LIFE AND LOVE RETURN 263 



animals that actually indulge in a sport or game for the sheer 

 sake of the thrill it affords. Thus the otter is much given to 

 the Canadian sports of tobogganing and "shooting the chute," 

 but it does it without sled or canoe; and at all seasons of the 

 year it may be seen sharing its favourite slide — sometimes 

 fifty or a hundred feet in length — with its companions. If in 

 summer, the descent is made on a grassy or clayey slope down 

 which the animals swiftly glide, and plunge headlong into deep 

 water. If the sport takes place on a clay bank, the wet coats 

 of the otters soon make the slide so slippery that the descent 

 is made at thrilling speed. But in winter time the sport be- 

 comes general, as then the snow forms a more convenient and 

 easier surface down which to slide. The otter, though not a 

 fast traveller upon land, is a master swimmer, and not only 

 does it pursue and overtake the speckled trout, but also the 

 swift and agile salmon. 



Otters den in the river or lake bank and provide an under- 

 water entrance to their home. They mate in February and 

 the young — never more than five, but more often two — are 

 born in April; and though their food includes flesh and fowl — 

 muskrats, frogs, and young ducks — it is principally composed 

 of fish. 



Though slow on land an otter often travels considerable 

 distances, especially in winter time, when it goes roaming in 

 search of open water. If pursued it has a protective way of 

 diving into and crawling swiftly beneath the surface of the 

 snow, in such a way that though its pursuer may run fast, he 

 more often loses his quarry; I know, because I have experienced 

 it. 



The otter not only has its thick, oily, dark-brown fur to keep 

 it warm, but also a thick layer of fat between its skin and body; 

 and thus, seal-like, it seems to enjoy in comfort the coldest of 

 winter water. Otters measure three or four feet in length and 

 in weight run from fifteen to thirty pounds. 



