Uncommon Pets 297 
in keeping their eyes on otters than anyone else, and with very few exceptions nearly 
all the otters that get into dealers’ hands come from this source of supply. A short 
advertisement in ANIMAL Lire would probably result in the reader getting into 
communication with a keeper, who would jrocure a puppy otter for fifteen shillings 
or a sovereign. An adult trapped otter is useless, or almost so, as a pet since it hardly 
ever gets even to tolerate its owner, and certainly never quiet enough to be handled, 
whereas a puppy can be brought up to be almost as domesticated as a dog. 
The greatest dithculty in keeping otters is in arranging a proper water supply, as, 
unless they have the freest of access to water, ophthalmic troubles always arise, and 
anything wrong with the eyes of an auimal, besides its own personal discomfort and 
suffering, renders it unsightly to the owner and his friends; apart from this, which is 
a preyentible disease, otters are unusually free—for animals in captivity—from ailments 
of any kind. If the prospective owner has an ormamental basin of water with a 
central fountain, as is found nowadays in many suburban residences, this will be just 
the thing for the otter to have a swim in if wired over and the kennel placed inside 
the wirework, which must be either of very strong wire-netting or else rod-iron placed 
closely together, as the otter 
is an extremely lithe animal, 
and if is surprising through 
what small openings it can 
squeeze itself. If, however, 
the reader has not such a 
pond im his garden, one must 
be made some six or eight 
feet square—the larger the 
better. This is a very sunple 
and comparatively inexpen- 
sive matter, the greatest item 
being the fixmeg of a pipe 
stopped with a movable plug 
at the bottom of the pond 
and tunning it into the 
nearest drain. The pond 
itself is merely excavated in 
the ground to the required 
size and depth and lined 
with cement. The kennel can be an ordimary dog’s kennel fully lined with straw, 
as much as it will hold loosely. The pond and kennel must be kept quite clean, as 
the otter is a scrupulously fastidious animal. The feeding is simple—small birds, 
animals, fish, etc.; they particularly relish frogs as a bonne bouche, and do not object 
to grubbing in the garden in search of worms, snails, and other small insects. A 
perfectly tame otter may safely be permitted to enter the house and play about the 
rooms, and will curl itself up in a chau or stretch itself out on the hearthrug with 
the air of being quite at home. Otters are fond of being played with and notice 
taken of them, puttmg up with a good deal of handling, but they nearly always 
resent their head, and most particularly their snout, bemg interfered with. Apart 
from their “touchiness” about their nose, they are most good-tempered little creatures 
with the exception of those which have been captured when adult; upon whose 
temper, consequently, no reliance whatever can be placed. Although May and June 
are specifically mentioned as the two chief months in which otters breed when wild, 
young puppies are noticed nearly all the year round. 
Photo by Herbert “Lazenby, York. 
OTTERS LEAVING THE WATER AFTER THEIR BATH. 
