50 ANIMAL LIFE UNDER WATER 



But the time came when, in order to procure 

 food more readily, it had to take to the water 

 and adopt the methods of a fisherman. The 

 hands and feet are now webbed and the tail is 

 a rudder, and the animal is as much at home in 

 water as on land. 



The otter, however, has not been fisherman 

 long enough for the cubs to take instinctively to 

 the acquired habits of the parent, and at first 

 they dread the water and have no idea how to 

 fish. When the young are about three months 

 old the parents commence to instruct them in 

 the ways of their future life, and they are taken 

 down to the river bank. 



Here the mother tries to persuade them to 

 follow her into the water, but persuasion seldom 

 succeeds, and she has either to carry or push 

 them into the stream. At times she enters the 

 water with the youngsters on her back, and then 

 sinks down so that they are left to swim. The 

 mother, however, is not far off, and at the first 

 sign of distress comes up below them and again 

 lifts them on to her back. 



Instruction in fishing commences as soon as 

 the cubs are quite at home in the water. For 

 some time past they have followed their parents 



