LITTLE BEASTS OF FIELD AND WOOD 



It is generally denied that otters ever occupy 

 real burrows ; but in nearly every stream there are 

 burrows to be found with the openings under 

 water, like muskrat holes, only a great deal larger, 

 perhaps eight or ten inches in diameter, and 

 not inhabited by muskrats. I have always be- 

 lieved that they were muskrat holes that had 

 been enlarged by otters to be used as occasion 

 offered, when fishing under the ice perhaps, but I 

 have no positive evidence to that effect. 



The young are said to be reared in natural 

 caves in the bank above high water, or in hollow 

 logs, or at the bottoms of hollow trees, for in the 

 matter of lodgings they seem usually to prefer 

 putting up with whatever presents itself to exert- 

 ing themselves in the way of making improve- 

 ments, — a trait that seems to be characteristic of 

 most carnivorous animals. 



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