THE OTTER AND SEAL 79 



The animal sees well at all times, but at 

 night its sight is remarkable. However dark the 

 night, any of the otters could catch a single fish 

 released into the pond. Their sight was equally 

 good for seeing objects other than fish. 



On one occasion I heard the animals fighting 

 at night, so I got up to find out the cause of 

 the disturbance. As it was pitch dark, I picked 

 up a brass candlestick in the hall in order to 

 find my way down to the pond ; attached to the 

 candlestick was a pair of old-fashioned snuffers. 

 When I got down to the pond all was again 

 quiet, and I could not see an otter anywhere, 

 but while I was looking round the snuffers be- 

 came detached from the candlestick and fell into 

 about two feet of water; I was preparing to 

 mark the spot with a view to recovery next 

 morning when I heard a tinkle on the stones; 

 an otter had retrieved the snuffers and was 

 having a game on the opposite bank. It was 

 so dark I could not see my hand in front of me, 

 but the snuffers were seized as soon as they fell 

 into the water. 



I experimented later by throwing small shells 

 into the water, and these were invariably re- 

 covered, however dark the night. 



