THE OTTER AND SEAL 51 



on land, keeping close to their heels, and now 

 they follow them into the water in the same 

 manner, so that undoubtedly they learn some- 

 thing of fishing by example, and their animal 

 instincts are aroused when the old otters come 

 ashore and deposit a flapping fish at their feet. 

 But, in addition to example, they are given 

 definite instruction. 



Fish are not only cornered by the parents 

 for the young to catch, but an otter has been 

 seen actually to post her cubs in position and 

 then drive the fish to them. 



My informant who witnessed the above pro- 

 cedure was Old Moon, the water bailiff to the 

 Kibble Fishing Association. 



Moon has lived his life in the .wild country 

 on the borders of Yorkshire and Lancashire, and 

 he is, what one so frequently meets in that 

 part of the world, a born naturalist, who has 

 learnt his natural history entirely from ob- 

 servation. 



The upper reaches of the Ribble and Hodder 

 were at one time famous for sea trout and 

 poachers, and also for the number of otters that 

 frequented these waters. For many years most 

 of Moon's nights were spent on Ribble bank, 



