ON THE GENUS LUTRA. 151 



surface of soft snow, their smooth fur opposing no obstacle to their 

 advance, but rather aiding them on declivities, where their pace 

 becomes accelerated. A hunter needs to be quick when an otter 

 is shot in or near to the water. The moment it is dead it sinks like 

 a seal ; and if not badly wounded it escapes without difficulty unless 

 seized immediately. 



The female otters are smaller than the males. March and 

 April is the season of gestation, and in August the young are active 

 and able to provide for themselves. In northern latitudes the 

 season of pairing may be a little later. Their principal food is fish, 

 but they eat also mollusks and Crustacea ; unios and crawfish 

 abound in some streams, and afford them much sustenance. At 

 fishing stations they are particularly troublesome, and very expert 

 in eluding the snares devised to catch or entrap them. They 

 destroy many more fish than they eat, preferring always the head, 

 and often leaving the rest untouched. When the nets are watched, 

 during the day, they make their visits in the darkness of the night 

 and retire unperceived to holes in the bank, under the roots of trees 

 and similar places, where they remain in comparative safety. When 

 there is a scarcity of fish and otters are numerous, their depreda- 

 tions are very damaging. 



If trouble be taken with the otter to tame it, it becomes a very 

 interesting pet. There is something mischievously amiable about 

 a pup otter. Restless and wary he gets into every hole and corner, 

 his tone of voice is agreeable, and the soft glossiness of his black 

 coat would induce any one to pat or caress him. I kept one for 

 some time, and it afforded great amusement. When taken to the 

 borders of the river, it would seek a pool or eddy of considerable 

 depth, where it would commence diving, bringing generally from 

 the bottom some species of small mollusk. Shells of the cyclas 

 genus were very abundant there. These it would crunch and 

 eat, one at a time, holding the nose and mouth out of the water 

 the body being apparently almost in an upright position. As soon 

 as one was finished, it would dive again without delay to the 

 bottom, returning to the surface as soon as another cyclas had 

 been got, never seeming to tire of the amusement. This hard 

 exercise appeared to occasion no fatigue ; and as a hearty break- 

 fast of fish had been had before hand on shore, the entertaiment 

 no doubt was equivalent to a dessert and a bath. 



With harder shells an otter has greater difficulty ; with an ano- 

 dontaor unio he seeks some rock shelving into the stream, or a fiat- 



