78 ANIMAL LIFE UNDER WATER 



lowed up the otters and greedily devoured their 

 leavings. 



On another occasion my friend was duck- 

 shooting on the River Sarju in the province of 

 Oude. He was floating down the river in a boat 

 and had his retriever with him. Outside a bed 

 of reeds an otter swam across in front of the 

 boat, and the dog immediately jumped over- 

 board. The otter did not dive, as might have 

 been expected, but raised itself in the water and 

 whistled loudly. When the dog was within a 

 yard of the beast it dived, reappeared behind the 

 retriever, and again raised itself and continued 

 to whistle; each time the animal whistled it 

 appeared to look round as if it expected assist- 

 ance. At last three or four otters appeared in 

 the water, dived, and attacked the dog from 

 below, as the yelps of the retriever indicated. 

 My friend went to the rescue and drove them 

 off, and when he lifted his retriever into the 

 boat he found that its back and side had been 

 bitten in several places. 



During the time that I have kept otters in 

 captivity I have had several opportunities to 

 observe the extent to which some of their special 

 senses are developed. 



