LUTKA CANADHNSIS. 



89 



in winter, and i!;o so fast that a man has oreat difficulty in overtakini^ 

 them. On the ice they proceed by a series of wliat small boys call 

 " a run and a slide," that is, the}- make several jumps and then slide 

 ahead, flat on their bellies, as far as their impetus and the smooth- 

 ness of the ice permit, and then do the same thing over again, and 

 so on. And this mode of progression suggests a curious trait in the 

 character of the Otter, /. c, its fondness for sliding down hill. Dr. 

 John D. Godman, in his well-known work on " American Natural 

 History," speaks thus of the habit: "Their favorite 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 themselves an impulse 

 with their hind legs and swiftly glide head-foremost down the decliv- 

 ity, sometimes for a distance of twenty yards. This sport they con- 

 tinue apparently with the keenest enjoyment until fatigue or hunger 

 induces them to desist." This statement accords with the observa- 

 tions of Cartwright, Hearne, Richardson, Audubon, and others, and 

 the last-named author goes on to sa)' that he; once witnessed a pair 

 of Otters engaged in this pastime, onl\- the)- were sliding down a 

 mud-bank instead of a snow-bank, and remarks: '' we counted each 

 one making twent\-two slides l)efore we disturbed their sportive 

 occupation." "•' The borders of the lakes and streams of the Adiron- 

 dacks afford numerous examples of these; slides, and also of their 

 wallowing places, which are either level l)eds, or slight depressions, 

 in which they play and roll. May's Lake, "a small and secluded body 

 of water, abounding in trout, is fairl)- surrounded by them. 



On the morning of October 27, 1881, the Hig Marsh at the head 

 of Big Moose Lake was frozen over, with the excerption of a narrow 

 strip along its north shore. While working our boat up between the 

 ice and the shore K. L. Sheppard and I noticed three Otters sporting 

 in the o[)en water ahead. They were diving and chasing one another 

 after the manner of so many seals. Several times did they jump so 



* Quadrupeds of North America, Vol. II, 1S51, p. S. 



