178 MELTON AND HOMESPUN 



richness of the eel which attracts the otter, while their 

 comparatively slow progress through the water renders 

 them a prey not difficult of capture. 



Now it is very well known that eels do an incalculable 

 amount of damage amongst the " reds " by devouring 

 both salmon and trout ova, of which they are inordinately 

 fond. Nor do they confine their depredations to ova 

 alone. What better bait could be found for an eel 

 than a small salmon-pink or a fingerling trout, and 

 where is the angler who has not roundly anathematised 

 these slimy, line-entangling pests for running away 

 with his very best dace or minnows while live-baiting or 

 paternostering ? This being the case, it is not unreason- 

 able to suggest that on rivers and streams infested by eels 

 an otter or two should prove beneficial rather than other- 

 wise. We use the words " an otter or two " advisedly, 

 of course, for Lutra's very best friends even could not, 

 with any degree of honesty, advocate the preservation 

 of an overplus of his kind in either salmon, trout, or 

 coarse-fish waters. But there is not much danger of 

 any stream becoming overpopulated by otters. The 

 moment the young are able to fend for themselves, they 

 are driven by their " affectionate " parents either down 

 to the sea or to some distant water. 



Could any intelligent and thoughtful man for one 

 moment imagine that a couple — or, for that matter, 

 half-a-dozen — otters within, say, a fifteen-mile stretch 

 of our larger rivers (which, generally speaking, simply 

 teem with fish) would make any appreciable difference 

 to the sport of the angler? Nay, the suggestion alone 

 would appeal to such a one as being absurd. The 

 Thames Conservancy arrived at this conclusion some 



