64 ANIMAL LIFE UNDER WATER 



resting place; perhaps the mother was trusting 

 to the low-lying mist to hide her offspring from 

 prying eyes. In the drain each animal licked 

 itself all over, then, huddled together, they fell 

 asleep. 



An hour before dusk there was a movement 

 in the rushes, and the mother crept out on to 

 the shingle; carefully she turned from side to 

 side and sniffed the air, then slipped into the 

 river and came up in the middle of the pool, 

 where she raised herself in the water and looked 

 round. Satisfied that all was clear, she returned 

 to the drain, and in a few minutes reappeared 

 with the cubs. It was evident that something 

 was afoot, for silently they fished in the pool, 

 and after a trout apiece they started to travel at 

 a rapid rate upstream. At dawn the family had 

 followed the course of the river as they dropped 

 down to their hover, but now the mother left 

 the water and made across the fields, past the 

 hover in the willow tree, and then on to the 

 rocky pool where they had fished the previous 

 night. By this route she cut off a great sweep 

 of the river. The old otter had no intention of 

 stopping to fish in the pool, and she continued 

 her course over the rocks, but the dog cub 



