774 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXVIII. No. 726 



1907-8. In the early spring of 1908 a pair of 

 otters were shot in the " old bed," a large 

 ox-bow of the Connecticut near Mt. Tom 

 Junction. In the preceding winter months a 

 boy shot another on a cake of ice in the Con- 

 necticut River near Hatfield. At Sunderland, 

 north of Amherst, in the same season, another 

 specimen was shot in a brook, tributary to the 

 river. In Swift River, a few miles east of the 

 Connecticut, two others were caught in a trap 

 within the last two or three years. Traditions 

 of the presence of the otter, a dozen, twenty 

 and more years ago are common among the 

 residents of the river towns in this neighbor- 

 hood, but it is generally conceded that these 

 animals appear more abundant at the present 

 time than for many years preceding. 



A few weeks ago while searching for 

 microscopic forms near " Mill River " I came 

 upon a large otter feeding in a stagnant pool 

 near the creek. My approach had been along 

 the road. The dust was very deep and 

 muffled every sound. The creature remained 

 feeding — apparently on vegetable matter, pos- 

 sibly frogs — or paddling about for several 

 minutes at a distance of less than one hun- 

 dred feet from my standing place. At last 

 it evidently saw or scented me and mounted 

 the bank and was lost in the brush. It soon 

 emerged at the bank of the stream a hundred 

 yards away and swam around a bend out of 

 sight. 



The surprising abundance of these animals 

 in the Connecticut Valley is thus shown and 

 seems to be a matter deserving of record. The 

 extent of their presence elsewhere in the state 

 can not be stated with any accuracy. Dr. 

 Glover M. Allen" reports that they are occa- 

 sionally seen about the Charles River in the 

 eastern part of the state, he having found 

 unmistakable tracks of the otter near Ded- 

 ham, Norfolk County, two winters ago. 



It is, of course, possible to postulate the 

 persistence of these animals in this state as 

 a logical consequence of their shy habits and 

 tendencies to roam about. At times they 

 might appear to decrease in numbers when 

 eagerly sought for their fur. When the 



'Personal letter. 



relentlessness of the hunter abated they would 

 multiply and attract attention once more, the 

 streams or ponds where the creatures had been 

 driven serving as centers of dispersion. The 

 younger animals, not having the experience of 

 the older ones, would be less wary and timid; 

 might, indeed, if unmolested for some time, 

 become comparatively bold. The compara- 

 tively large size of these animals and their 

 habits, however, would reveal their presence. 

 Even their roaming habit is in a measure 

 against them, as they are essentially stream- 

 loving animals, and in the winter months 

 when searching for the rapids and falls of the 

 streams for open water would leave their 

 tracks in the snow. The otter is a good land 

 traveler and does not always follow the wind- 

 ing courses of the waterway. Their compara- 

 tive scarcity in the eastern part of the state 

 is noteworthy. 



The abundance of these animals in the Con- 

 necticut River valley has suggested to me that 

 they have come along this waterway from the 

 north outside the limits of the state to the 

 smaller tributaries of the river in the lowland 

 of the valley. They may have traveled east- 

 ward through the valleys of the Ware, the 

 Assabet, and the Blackstone to the seaboard. 

 But one must not overlook the possibility of 

 their having come along another waterway 

 from the north — the Merrimac, along the 

 tributaries of which — the Concord and the 

 Nashua — they might have easily made their 

 way southward. 



The emigration from Vermont of terrestrial 

 mammals is a matter of common knowledge. 

 This emigration is along the Hoosac and 

 Taconic ranges in the western part of the 

 state. Early reports record many wild mam- 

 mals in these districts, but their numbers are 

 fewer, apparently, at present. In the fall of 

 1907, however, a black bear (Ursus ameri- 

 canus), variety not known, was shot near 

 Williamsburg in the eastern foothills of the 

 Berkshires. Some indication of the num- 

 ber of wild cats is had from the treasurer's 

 records in Berkshire County. By the enact- 

 ment of our general court (Chap. 344, Acts of 

 1903) provision is made for the payment of 

 a bounty of $5.00 for every wild cat (either 



