100 COMMISSION OF CONSERVATION 



for foundation stock for ranches, the breeding of otter can probably 

 be prosecuted with profit. 



The following article on the otter, by Vernon Bailey, was published 

 in the report of the American Breeders' Association, Vol. 5: 



The Otter as a Fur Bearer 



"Next to silver and blue foxes, otters seem to promise the best 

 results ia fur-farming. They combine coats of real and permanent 

 value with habits easily controlled and well adapted to domestication. 

 They have cheerful dispositions, are playful, affectionate, and intelli- 

 gent, and though, in their wild state, great wanderers, they are contented 

 and thrive when confined in very limited quarters. Under ordinary 

 conditions they do not breed in captivity, but it is believed that this 

 failing can be overcome by giving them sufficiently normal conditions. 

 In their wild state they are in no danger of extermination. Man is their 

 only enemy worth considering and, owing to their wandering habits and 

 keen intelligence, they have little to fear from any but the most ex- 

 perienced trapper. They have held their own over thickly settled parts 

 of the United States better than any other animal of equal fur value. 

 They still inhabit most of their original range over the country, never 

 in abundance, but scattered one or two in a stream or lake. They are 

 apparently as common around the suburbs of Washington and in settled 

 sections generally, as in most of the wilder but more trapped forest 

 areas of the country. 



"Full-grown Canadian otters are about 4 feet in total 

 Characteristics length and weigh approximately 20 to 30 pounds. 



Their striking characteristics are long, lithe bodies, 

 tapering into long, muscular, flattened tails; very short legs, fully 

 webbed hind feet; short ears, keen little eyes and a beautiful coat of 

 dense, dark brown fur. They are weasel-like in their quickness, ex- 

 tremely muscular and, for their size, fearless and savage fighters. 



■r>- J. -v X- "Many kinds of otter occur in different parts of the 



Distribution , , , ^ ^i , , , , , , , , 



and Variation world, but the largest and most valuable for fur are 



those of North America, Lutra Canadensis, and its 



several closely related sub-species or geographic varieties. Considering 



their wide range from Labrador to Alaska and from near the Arctic 



coast to Florida and Arizona, they show surprisingly little variation 



in size or in colour or quality of fur. This is, of course, owing to 



their aquatic habits and to the nearly uniform temperature of water 



in winter over almost the whole continent. The average lower price 



of southern otter skins may be due largely to the fact that most are 



caught before the midwinter cold has brought them up to prime con- 



