52 ANIMAL LIFE UNDER WATER 



and in consequence he has had splendid oppor- 

 tunities for observing the habits of these shy 

 creatures. 



The .water bailiff described to me how, one 

 night as he lay on the bank, he observed an 

 otter and three cubs come to a shallow run of 

 water below a bridge near Clitheroe. The 

 mother kept the cubs in a line across the tail of 

 the pool, while she went to the head and 

 deliberately crossed the river from side to side 

 so as to work the fish down to her youngsters. 

 Their antics showed that the fish were driven 

 down all right, but only one cub managed to 

 catch a trout. 



That instruction is necessary before an otter 

 will swim or fish is demonstrated by the follow- 

 ing incidents : 



Mr. Rose, the Master of the Essex Otter 

 Hounds, took a tame otter, which had been 

 obtained as a cub, down to fish in a well-stocked 

 pond, but nothing would induce it to do any- 

 thing except walk round and round in the 

 shallow water. 



The second case was that of an otter which 

 I had on my ponds, and as this animal's 

 behaviour well illustrates how some of the habits 



