329 
THE OTTER IN THE MID-TRENT VALLEY 
AND ITS TRIBUTARIES. 
S. Bo WHIPLOCE, 
Beeston, Notts. 
THE Otter is by no means an extinct species in certain tributaries 
of the Trent, and even on.the main river itself in the quieter 
Derbyshire reaches, and more rarely.in the vicinity of large towns, 
one still hears of an example being occasionally seen orcaptured. As 
I write I note that the ‘ Nottingham Guardian ’ reports an individual 
killed at Cavendish Bridge. I can well remember a few years 
back seeing a specimen hanging in a Nottingham fishmonger’s shop. 
This had been secured at Wilford, only a short distance outside the 
borough. It is, however, on such tributaries as the Derwent, Dove, 
and Soar, that the chief local haunts of this species exist at the 
present time. On the latter river it may be said to be fairly 
plentiful. By plentiful, I of course do not mean to say that it is 
anywhere numerous, but still, if search is properly conducted in 
suitable haunts, individuals are pretty certain to be met with. The 
locality need not be particularly quiet nor yet secluded, but it must 
afford ample cover in the nature of thickets, osier beds, and old 
trees overhanging the water. : : 
As regards the Derwent, if one reads the piscatorial news in the 
local newspapers, one often comes across a note that Otters have 
been seen by fishermen and others. Amongst various items the 
following, which appeared in the ‘Nottingham Daily Guardian’ at 
the beginning of last year, seems of special interest :-—‘ A Midland 
Railway platelayer, coming in the direction of Whittington from 
Dunston sidings, came across a pair of dead Otters lying on the 
railway, both apparently having been killed by a passing train. 
The animals proved to be a male and female, the former especially 
being a fine specimen.’ 
It is in the Soar Valley, however, that my personal meetings 
with Otters have taken place. One of the first I can remember was 
trapped (about 1869), and only slightly injured, near Stanford-on- 
Soar. It was afterwards exhibited by a man named Ward, at Lough- 
borough. He succeeded in keeping it alive for some time. I forget 
its eventual fate. Since then I have from time to time heard of 
others being seen or shot, and my father on more than one occasion, 
when quietly fishing some of the neighbouring trout streams, has 
been startled by an Otter plunging into the water. A few years ago 
Dec. 1895. wee 
