296 Animal Life 
recelving serious injuries to the tail and lmbs. <A true pair when kept together are 
company one to the other, and although disagreements are sure to arise there is no 
serious result. The male and female are very fond of gambolling together, rushing 
at each other and rolling over one another, evidently having the keenest enjoyment 
in their antics; this is not only noticeable when they are kept captive, but they may be 
observed occasionally when wild sporting together on the banks of the streams they 
frequent. As a peculiar incident of animal-play, that of the American Otter (Lutra 
canadensis) may be noticed. This species, if appears from well-recorded and authentic 
observations, takes a delight in “ tobogganning,” or perhaps more correctly, “sliding.” 
In winter the animal selects a high mdge of snow with a long slope, to the top of 
x = >. 4 ri re + 
Sk Sentry CR Re ‘ SSS SSS 
Photo by Herbert Lazenby, York. OTTER FEEDING. 
which it scrambles, gives itself a “send-off” with its hind-limbs, and slides down the 
declivity ; one pair were observed to make twenty-two slides before they ceased their fun. 
On land the otter runs with a peculiar “loping” gallop, but on ice the American 
species, if pursued, makes ‘a short scrambling run and then takes a slide as far as its 
impetus will carry it, repeating the process again and again. In water, however, the 
otter is quite another creature, and glides with beautiful movements almost surpassing 
those of the seal, moving to and fro more like a shadow than a living animal; its 
course, more often than not, only being traced by the track of air-bubbles rising to 
the surface of the stream, rather than by any actual sight of the otter itself. 
The best plan for those who do not live in districts where otters are to be found 
will be to apply to keepers of preserved fisheries, as these have a more direct interest 
