LITTLE BEASTS OE ElELD AND WOOD 



and by the time we had reached the spot there 

 were only the disturbed water and trodden grass 

 to be seen. 



The otter subsists almost entirely upon fish, 

 and has the reputation of being a veritable epicure 

 in his preference for certain kinds, catching only 

 salmon or trout where these are to be obtained, 

 and when fish are sufficiently abundant, taking 

 only a few bites from the shoulder of each. But 

 those about here are of necessity forced to con- 

 tent themselves with much plainer fare, though I 

 fancy they get their share of brook trout even 

 now, and probably enjoy them all the more on 

 account of their rarity ; and who knows but their 

 ancestors got just as tired of an everlasting diet 

 of salmon and trout as some of our own ances- 

 tors are said to have done ? Even at the present 

 day the otters probably never suffer from hunger, 

 as there are always plenty of the more common- 

 place fish to be had, not to mention frogs of 

 half-a-dozen species. And there are indications 



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