ioo . CARNIVORES. 



It is not the mainland of Saanach Island which is frequented by the sea-otters, 



but the small islets and reefs lying to the southward and westward at a distance of 



about five miles, and thence stretching seawards, most of which are left bare at 



low water. Either on these islets and reefs, or, in calm weather, in the open sea 



around, the sea-otters are to be found. 



The female sea-otter has only two teats, and produces but a 

 Breeding. , . 



single young one at a birth, so that the increase of the species can be, 



at the best, but slow. The young may apparently be born at any season of the 



year, and do not attain maturity till four or five years old. Writing of the general 



habits of the species, Mr. Elliot observes that the "mother sleeps in the water on 



her back, with her young clasped between her fore-paws. The pup cannot live 



without its mother, though frequent attempts have been made by the natives to 



raise them, as they often capture them alive, but, like some other species of wild 



animals, it seems to be so deeply imbued with fear of man that it invariably dies 



from self-imposed starvation." 



The remarkable difference in the structure of the cheek-teeth of 

 Habits. 



the sea-otter from those of the true otters, clearly indicates that there 



must be an equally marked difference in the food of the two ; and the rounded 

 prominences on the crowns of those of the present species would further suggest 

 that they were adapted for pounding and crushing hard substances. As a matter 

 of fact, Mr. Elliot tells us that the food of the sea-otters " is almost entirely com- 

 posed of clams, mussels, and sea-urchins, of which they are very fond, and which 

 they break by striking the shells together, held in each fore-paw, sucking out. 

 the contents as they are fractured by these efforts; they also undoubtedly eat 

 crabs, and the juicy tender fronds of kelp or sea- weed, and fish. They are not 

 polygamous, and more than one individual is seldom seen at a time when out at 

 sea. The flesh is very unpalatable, highly charged with a rank smell and flavour. 

 They are playful, it would seem, for I am assured by several old hunters that they 

 have watched the sea-otter for half an hour as it lay upon its back in the water 

 and tossed a piece of sea-weed up in the air from paw to paw, apparently taking 

 great delight in catching it before it could fall into the water. It will also play 

 with its young for hours. The quick hearing and acute smell possessed by the 

 sea-otter are not equalled by any other creatures in the territory. They will take 

 alarm and leave from the effects of a small fire four or five miles to the windward 

 of them ; and the footstep of man must be washed by many tides before its trace 

 ceases to alarm the animal, and drive it from landing." 



In Alaska the sea-otter is often captured by shooting it in the 

 Hunting:. . ... 



head with a rifle-bullet when the animal is sporting in the surf ; the 



booming of the surf deadening the report of the rifle, and thus allowing successive 



shots to be taken till one is successful. An older plan is, however, for a party to 



go out in canoes when a sea-otter has been observed, and by arranging themselves 



in a circle around its last point of disappearance, so harass the creature on its 



subsequent emergence that eventually it becomes exhausted from sheer inability 



to breathe. The third method is by knocking the animals on the head with heavy 



clubs : but this can only be done during the winter, at such times when strong 



gales are blowing from the northward. Then, writes Mr. Elliot, the boldest of the 



