80 



NORTH AMERICAN FAUNA 68 



Figure 41. — A mother otter rubs the top of her head with one paw and her 

 elbow with the other. Both paws are in constant motion during grooming. 

 After grooming her own fur, the mother took her pup onto her chest and 

 groomed and dried it before allowing it to nurse from her two abdominal 

 nipples. (KWK 57-29-14) 



BARK 



A yearling male during pool cleaning, while trapped in the 

 empty pool and resenting thus being "cornered," uttered a stac- 

 cato bark which trailed off into the whistle, apparently to denote 

 frustration. 



COUGHING, SNEEZING, AND YAWNING 

 Sounds as in other animals. 



Handedness 



During many hours of watching wild sea otters feeding, I noted 

 that when the animals emerged from a food gathering dive the 

 food items were carried to the surface under the left forelimb. 

 Only if a large quantity of food was brought to the surface, i.e., 



