RECREA TION. 



(>i 



in the snow. Feeling somewhat puzzled, 

 I followed them along to near the upper 

 beaver dam, nearing which I stopped, and 

 rested the butt of my Marlin on the ice. 



The animal, whatever it was, evidently 

 visited this place often, for the ice 

 bordering the nearer of the two open 

 places was paddled and dirty looking. 

 Some dim suspicions were arising, and 

 I started to investigate more closely, but 

 at my first movement there was a sud- 

 den commotion among the willows that 

 overhung the water ; something dark 

 and heavy shot with a sudden plunge into 

 the pool and disappeared beneath the ice. 



Like a flash of lightning turning night 

 into day, the whole matter was made 

 clear to me. My vague surmise was 



OTTERS AT HOME. 



now fully confirmed, and I had lost the 

 only chance I ever had of a shot at an 

 otter. Not for the finest buck that 

 roamed these hills would I have missed 

 such an opportunity, so feeling greatly 

 disgusted 1 shouldered my rifle and 

 started for home. Deer hunting now 

 faded into insignificance, and mink and 

 fisher trapping seemed tame work in 

 comparison with other hunting ; for, 

 like most men fond of the wilds, any- 

 thing rare in nature always had a great 

 attraction for me. The more I thought 

 the matter over the more anxious I be- 

 came, and I resolved to have that otter's 

 skin if it took me all winter to get it. 



I knew this was regarded by old trap- 

 pers as one of the most difficult of ani- 

 mals to catch, and that an intimate 

 knowledge of its habits was essential to 

 success. I thought of lying in wait and 

 shooting this fellow, but I might miss or 



only wound him. so I made up my mind 

 to try for him with a steel trap ; and 

 borrowing one of Len's largest — a No. 

 4 with double spring — I repaired to the 

 spot next morning. In two hours I had 

 explored the tangled willow thickets, 

 examined the bank of the river, looked 

 over the old beaver dams and followed 

 up the little stream that entered the 

 upper end of the pond and ran back 

 into the forest. In that time I had gained 

 more real knowledge of an otter's ways 

 than a month's reading could give me. 



One favorite habit of the animal 

 seemed to be that of sliding down a 

 steep, slippery bank, and there was a 

 much used slide at the lower beaver dam. 

 I thought of putting my trap here, but 



it seemed 

 a doubtful 

 scheme 

 even if set 

 at the foot 

 of it, for 

 the chances 

 were about 

 even whe- 

 ther one of 

 its feet 

 would strike 

 the pan or 

 not. after 

 shooting 

 down the 

 glassy sur- 

 face. Final- 

 ly I resolved 

 to try one of the open holes and crawled 

 out through the brush on the upper dam 

 to investigate. The nearer pool was only 

 about three feet wide and eight or ten 

 inches deep, and was caused by the run- 

 ning water that trickled through the mat- 

 ted sticks, of which the dam was formed. 

 One particular spot on the ice seemed to 

 be the otter's regular landing place. 



This suited me exactly, so I set the 

 trap and placed it on the muddy bottom 

 under water, just where I calculated my 

 visitor's hind feet would be planted as 

 he crawled out on to the ice. I fastened 

 the chain securely to a thick root that 

 grew in the mud. Then I reached 

 down, got a handful of soft ooze and 

 allowed it to settle in a light coating on 

 both trap and chain to conceal them. 

 Finally after splashing water over all 

 traces of my presence, I returned home 

 to await developments. 



TO BE CONTINUED. 



