306 THE COMMON OTTER. 



found upon the icy coasts of the Northern Pacific, where it is extremely active in the capture 

 of marine fish. "When the warmer months begin to loosen the icy bonds of winter, the Sea 

 Otter leaves the coasts, and in company with its mate proceeds up the rivers until it reaches 

 the fresh-water lakes of the interior. There it remains until the lessening warmth gives warn- 

 ing for it to make its retreat seawards before the fierce frosts of those northern regions seal up 

 the lakes and deprive it of its means of subsistence. 



It is rather a scarce animal, and is not so prolific as many of its relations. The fur of the 

 Kalan is extremely beautiful, shining with a glossy velvet-like sheen, and very warm in 

 character. It is in consequence valued at a very high price. The color of the fur is rather 

 variable, but its general hue is a rich black, slightly tinged with brown on the upper portions 

 of the body, while the under portions of the body and the limbs are of a lighter hue. In some 

 specimens the head is nearly white, and in one or two instances the white tinge extends as far 

 as the neck. Indeed, the proportions of dark and white fur differ in almost every indi- 

 vidual. 



All the Otters are long of body and short of limb, but in the Kalan this peculiarity is 

 more apparent than in the ordinary Otters, on account of the curious setting on of the hinder 

 limbs and the comparative shortness of the tail, which is barely more than seven inches long, 

 while the head and body measure three feet in length. The food of the Sea Otter is not 

 restricted to fish, but is composed of various animal productions, such as Crustacea and 

 mollusks. Some writers assert that, in default of its more legitimate food, it varies its diet by 

 sea- weeds and other vegetable substances. 



The North American Otter (Lutra canadensis) was formerly abundant in the New 

 England States, but is now exceedingly scarce. A specimen was captured lately by Dr. Wood, 

 of East Windsor Hill, in the Connecticut River. 



One of the most surprising habits known to animals is that of the Otter sliding down a 

 declivity for pleasure. In winter they select a high bank of snow, and amuse themselves for 

 hours in sliding down head-foremost. In summer they choose a steep bank by the side of a 

 stream, which terminates in deep water. Here they indulge in the same recreation. This 

 would seem wholly incredible, did not Audubon and other reliable observers give us the facts. 

 They live in small families, like the beavers, and bring forth two young at a birth, in March. 

 A California species is known, very closely resembling the Eastern. 



The Sea Otter suggests the seals, being so organized as to be fitted for almost continuous 

 living in the sea ; differing greatly in this respect from the Land Otters. 



Although by no means a large animal, the Common Otter of Europe has attained a uni- 

 versal reputation as a terrible and persevering foe to fish. Being possessed of a very discrimi- 

 nating palate, and invariably choosing the finest fish that can be found in the locality, the 

 Otter is the object of the profoundest hate to the proprietors of streams and by all human 

 fishermen. It is so dainty an animal that it will frequently kill several fish, devouring only 

 those portions which best please its palate, and leaving the remainder on the banks, to become 

 the prey of rats, birds, or other fish-loving creatures. 



When the Otter is engaged in eating the fish which it has captured, it holds the slippery 

 prey between its fore-paws, and, beginning with the back of the neck, eats away the flesh from 

 the neck towards the tail, rejecting the head, tail, and other portions. In well-stocked rivers, 

 the Otter is so extremely fastidious that it will catch and kill four or five good fish in a single 

 day, and eat nothing but the fine, flaky meat which is found on the shoulders. The neigh- 

 boring rustics take advantage of this epicurean propensity, and make many a meal upon the 

 fish which have been discarded by the dainty Otter. Sometimes, as in the very dry or the very 

 cold seasons, the Otter is forced to lay aside its fastidious notions, and is glad to find an oppor- 

 tunity of appeasing, its hunger with any kind of animal food. Driven by hunger, the Otter 

 has been known to travel overland for five or six miles, and is sometimes so hardly pressed 

 that it will have recourse to vegetable substances in default of its usual animal food. In such 

 trying seasons, the Otter is too apt to turn its attention to the farm-yard, and to become very 

 destructive to poultry of all kinds, to young pigs, and lambs. One of these animals was cap- 



