276 THE BOOK OF THE ANIMAL KINGDOM 



Although possessed of indomitable courage, and exhibiting a 

 fierce, wild and shy disposition, which gives to the animal the 

 greater part of its charm when in the full enjoyment of its liberty, 

 it makes a tame and docile pet when kept in captivity, but, as such, 

 looks strangely out of place to those who have watched it by some 

 sylvan stream where the wind sighs through the tall rushes, and 

 Nature is seen unadorned through non-interference by mankind. 



A burrow close to the edge of the water is usually the retreat of 

 this animal, the burrow extending some way under the bank and 

 being nicely hidden by the surrounding herbage. 



Otters do not restrict their attention to a diet of fish when hunger 

 presses and food is scarce, for birds' eggs, frogs, fresh and salt 

 water crustaceans, water-fowl and poultry are preyed upon, and, it 

 is said, even young lambs and pigs. The worst accusation that 

 can be brought against these animals is that — like the Fox — they kill 

 more food than they can eat, and one can understand how galling it 

 must be to the owners or tenants of angling waters to find a partly 

 eaten salmon or trout left by an Otter on the prowl. If such a 

 habit as this were not possessed by the Otter, surely any other 

 misdeeds might be overlooked, and the abominable practice of 

 hounding the creature to death put a stop to. 



