THE OTTER. 87 
As is the case with the generality of weasels, the Badger is furnished with 
an apparatus which secretes a substance of an exceedingly offensive odour, 
to which circumstance is probably owing much of the popular prejudice 
against the “stinking brock.” 
The colours of the Badger are grey, black, and white, which are rather 
curiously distributed. The head is white, with the exception of a rather 
broad and very definitely marked black line on each side, commencing near 
the snout and ending at the neck, including the eye and the ear in its course. 
The body is of a reddish grey, changing to a white grey on the ribs and tail. 
The throat, chest, abdomen, legs, and feet are of a deep blackish brown. 
The average length of the Badger is two feet six inches, and its height at 
the shoulder eleven inches. 
ALTHOUGH by no means a large animal, the OTTER has attained a 
universal reputation as a terrible and persevering foe to fish. Being pos- 
sessed of a very discriminating palate, and invariably choosing the finest 
fish that can be found in the locality, the Otter is the object of the pro- 
foundest hate to the proprietors of streams and to all human fishermen. 
When the Otter is engaged in eating the fish it has captured, it holds the 
slippery prey between its fore-paws, and, beginning with the back of the 
neck, eats away the flesh from the neck towards the tail, rejecting the head, 
tail, and other portions. 
For pursuit of its finny prey the Otter is admirably adapted by nature. 
The body is lithe and serpentine ; the feet are furnished with a broad web 
that connects the toes, and is of infinite service in propelling the animal 
through the water ; the tail is long, broad, and flat, proving a powerful and 
effectual rudder by which its movements are directed ; and the short, power- 
ful legs are so loosely jointed that the animal can turn them in almost any 
direction. 
The colour of the Otter varies slightly according to the light in which it is 
viewed, but is generally of a rich brown tint, intermixed with whitish grey. 
This colour is lighter along the back and the outside of the legs than on the 
other parts of the body, which are of a paler greyish hue. Its habitation is 
made on the bank of the river which it frequents, and is rather inartificial in 
its character, as the creature is fonder 
of occupying some natural crevice or 
deserted excavation than of digging 
a burrow for itself. The nest of the 
Otter is composed of dry rushes, 
flags, or other aquatic plants, and is 
purposely placed as near the water 
as possible, so that in case of a sud- 
den alarm the mother Otter may 
plunge into the stream together with 
her young family, and find a refuge 
among the vegetation that skirts the 
river banks. The number of the young is from three to five, and they 
make their appearance about March or April. en 
The fur of the Otter is so warm and handsome that it is in some request 
for commercial purposes. The entire length of the animal is rather under 
three feet and a half, of which the tail occupies about fourteen or fifteen 
inches. On the average it weighs about twenty-three pounds ; but there are 
examples which have far surpassed that weight. Mr. Bell records an instance 
of a gigantic Otter that was captured in the River Lea, between Hertford and 
Ware, and which weighed forty pounds. _ ; 
‘Although so fierce and savage an animal when attacked, the Otter is 
OTTER. —(Lutra vulgaris ) 
