66 j THE SEA OTTERS. 
are of a light brown or dingy white. The ears are less than 
an inch in length, quite pointed, standing nearly erect, and 
are covered with short hair. 
Its hind flippers, or feet, are long and webbed much like a 
seal’s. Its forelegs are short; the fore paws resemble those 
. of a cat, and are furnished with five sharp claws, each meas- 
uring half an inch in length; the hind feet, or flippers, are 
furnished likewise. 
Occasionally the young are of a deep brown, with the 
ends of the longest hairs tipped with white, and about the 
nose and eyes of a cream color. 
The mating season of the sea otter is not known, as the 
young are met with in all months of the year; hence it is 
reasonable to suppose they differ from most other species of 
marine mammalia in this respect.* 
The hunters about Point Granville say that the males are 
less shy, and run more in shore during May and June, and 
appear to be in search of the females; while on the other 
hand, the latter make every effort to avoid them. The time 
of gestation is supposed to be eight or nine months. 
The oldest and most observing hunters about Point Gran- 
ville aver that the sea otter is never seen on shore unless it is 
wounded. (Nevertheless we have accounts of their coming 
on shore upon the Aleutian Islands, which will be spoken of 
hereafter.) 
It is possessed of much sagacity, has great powers of 
scent, and is exceedingly imbued with curiosity. 
Its home is nearly as much in the water as some species 
of whales; and as whalers have their favorite "cruising 
grounds, so likewise do the otter hunters have their favorite 
hunting grounds, or points where the objects of pursuit are 
found in greater numbers than along the general stretch of 
the coast. About the seaboard of Upper and Lower Cali- 
fornia, Cerros St. Gerimmo, Guadalupe, St. Nicholas and 
*This remark in relation to finding the young at all seasons of the year is based 
