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THE OTTEK, LUTRA VULGARIS. 



By the Editor. 



(Continued from Zool. 1894, p. 47.) 



In the last instalment of this article (pp. 41-47) we left off 

 with a graphic description of the actions of the Otter in its 

 natural haunts, as observed in Scotland by the Brothers Stuart, 

 and printed in their delightful * Lays of the Deer Forest.' We 

 have read nothing better, or more true to nature. It is evident, 

 from their account, that the Otter, when undisturbed, enjoys a 

 frolic in the water with its kind, just as other animals will gambol 

 upon dry land. We have been eye-witness to this in the case of 

 Foxes, Badgers, and Squirrels, but it has never been our good 

 fortune to see what has been described and vouched for by several 

 American writers in the case of the Otter, namely, its enjoyment 

 in making and using a " slide " upon the snow-covered slope of 

 a hill-side. 



Sir John Richardson, one of the earliest writers to describe 

 with precision the habits of the North American Otter (Lutra 

 canadensis), has remarked that when its usual haunts are frozen 

 over, it will travel overland to a great distance through the snow, 

 and if then seen and pursued, it will throw itself forward on its 

 belly, and slide through the snow for several yards, leaving a deep 

 furrow behind it. This movement is repeated with such rapidity 

 that even a swift runner on snow-shoes has much trouble in over- 

 taking it. But this " sliding" is not only resorted to in the 

 endeavour to avoid pursuit, and is something more than an easy 

 way of slipping down a wet sloping bank to the water. It seems 

 to be a favourite mode of diversion. J. D. Godman, in his 

 * American Natural History' (Philadelphia, 1826), remarks : — 



" Their favourite sport is ' sliding,' and for this purpose in winter the 

 highest ridge of snow is selected, to the top of which the Otters scramble, 

 where, lying on the belly, with the fore-feet bent backwards, they give them- 

 selves an impulse with their hind legs, and swiftly glide head-foremost down 

 the declivity, sometimes for the distance of twenty yards. This sport they 

 continue apparently with the keenest enjoyment, until fatigue or hunger 

 induces them to desist." 



Audubon has described this remarkable trait in the Otter from 

 personal observation. He says : — 



2 G2 



