Concord, Mass.
1911.
Sept. 24
[September 24, 1911]

Scarcity of Muskrats
Otter (?)

  Although I have been living at Ball's Hill continuously
since Sept. 12th I have not seen a single Muskrat nor
even a sign of one anywhere along the river. About
a week ago I heard on two successive nights an hour
or two after dark a single heavy splash in the river which
may have been made by a Muskrat but which I was
more inclined to refer to as an Otter. At 11 o'clock tonight,
just after I had gone to bed, and for half an hour later, 
some animal which I fully believe to have been an Otter
was sporting & plunging in the water at intervals directly
in front of the cabin making as much noise as a
large dog similarly employed. The night was warm &
dark but star-lit. I listened in vain for the
characteristic whistle heard from the Otter here last year.
Glover M. Allen tells me that he has a note of an
Otter killed in this river in Billerica early last spring.