MAMMALIA 37 



those of the Carlisle Hunt ; consequently they seldom kill more 

 than four or five Otters in a season. 



The Carlisle Otter Hounds have meets during the summer 

 on the Esk, the Lyne, the Liddell, the Irthing, Petteril, and 

 other rivers. The Eden affords the finest sport, especially 

 about Wetheral, Armathwaite, and Appleby. These dogs 

 generally kill ten or eleven Otters during the season, which 

 often commences in May, but is regulated by weather and the 

 condition of the rivers. In 1887 they killed no fewer than 

 sixteen Otters on the various rivers which they visited. Tom 

 Parker, the huntsman, is a local oracle, whose judgment regard- 

 ing Otters enjoys an honest reputation. From him I learn that 

 female Otters usually vary in weight from 14 lbs. to 17 lbs. 

 when full-sized. The largest female Otter that he ever saw 

 scaled 21 lbs. He once weighed a bitch Otter of 20 lbs. But 

 these last weights are rare in Lakeland. Dog Otters are con- 

 siderably larger than the bitches, and weigh, in condition, from 

 22 lbs. to 26 lbs. Otters of 27 lbs. have been killed on both 

 the Esk and the Lyne in recent years, but they were very big 

 fellows. The heaviest and longest Otter that has been killed 

 by the Carlisle Hounds was drowned in the Eden opposite the 

 Ambrose Holme. This grand dog Otter scaled 31 lbs., and is 

 preserved in the possession of Mr. Wilson of Carlisle. The 

 Otters do not seem to be quite as fine in West Cumberland. 

 The largest that Lindsay ever killed on the Irt was 25 lbs. : ' A 

 gay smittle river is Duddon, but Irt is smittlest, and worst 

 to get.' 



The dogs should be laid on to the ' foil ' of the Otter as soon 

 as possible after daybreak. If the sun shines powerfully, the 

 'foil' leaves the gravel-beds, and checks occur. Otter-hounds 

 hunt by nose, and sometimes work on the ' foil ' of an Otter for 

 four or five hours before they view the animal. Young Otters 

 are often found by the hounds in the summer; indeed, the 

 bitch Otter may produce cubs at any time. I examined a baby 

 Otter which a terrier had 'snapped' on the Eden in June 1889. 

 Mr. J. Bolton found a tiny cub on the banks of the Cocker, 

 July 26, 1880. Mr. Tom Coward recollects seeing a litter of 

 small cubs on the 1st of August. The supply of Otters varies 



