THE WEASEL FAMILY 139 



Scotland and Ireland the otter takes to the seashore. All round 

 those grand chalk cliffs of Antrim, in North-east Ireland, there 

 are traces of the otter in the hollows in chalk and basalt. It is 

 said to frequent this coast for salmon. It is also found off^ the 

 coast of Donegal, equally taking to a sea life. The otter is said 

 to kill and spoil more fish than he eats ; but fish are so common 

 and otters are so rare that this surely ought not to matter to 

 humanity. When it has brought a fish to shore it generally 

 holds the head between its fore paws, and begins to eat at that 

 end, devouring it downwards till it has reached the fin of the tail, 

 which is discarded. 



Otters do not hibernate, and if their streams are frozen over 

 they either migrate to the seashore in search of sea fish, or if 

 that is too far away they turn their attention to land animals. 

 They will eat any bird or small beast they can get hold of, and 

 occasionally attack the poultry and young lambs and pigs of 

 farmsteads. They catch and devour numbers of moorhens, coots, 

 and wild duck. When they are back in the water they not only 

 eat almost every kind of fish, but also frogs, and (on the sea- 

 coast) crabs and shrimps. 



Otters are extremely playful creatures, and male, female, and 

 young display much mutual affection. It is an animal which can 

 be readily tamed by man. Bishop Heber, writing in the early 

 part of the nineteenth century, very justly says that the simple 

 Hindu shows a better taste in taming the otter and training it to 

 catch fish for its master than " half the otter-hunting, badger- 

 baiting gentry of England." Professor Bell gives the following 

 directions as to how young otters may be tamed and trained : 

 *' They should be procured as young as possible, and they are at 

 first fed with small fish and water. Then bread and milk is to 

 be alternated with the fish, and the proportion of the former 

 gradually increased till they are led to live entirely on bread and 

 milk. They are then taught to fetch and carry, exactly as dogs 

 are trained to do the same trick, and when they are brought to 

 do this with ease and docility a leather fish stufi^ed with wool is 

 employed for the purpose. They are afterwards exercised with 



