THE SEA OTTER IN THE EASTERN PACIFIC OCEAN 285 



they bite off their front feet; but if a male and a female are caught 

 together they both lacerate their skins terribly and knock out their eyes. 



After capturing more than 200 sea otters in dip nets, I have 

 concluded that Steller's description is an exaggeration. That a 

 netted otter is frantic is true. One particularly nervous female did 

 chew off the first joint of one hind toe and tore at the skin of her 

 belly with her teeth, but such behavior is unusual. Usually the 

 netted otter bit the netting and with the help of its forepaws at- 

 tempted to break the strands or attempted to push the strands 

 away from its face and body with the forepaws. 



On several occasions a mother and young were taken in the 

 same net. A large juvenile bit its mother repeatedly on the head 

 and body in its frantic efforts to escape. These two animals were 

 quickly separated, tagged, and when released the juvenile joined 

 its mother and the two swam away together. After being placed in 

 a small carrying cage, otters usually rested quietly. 



Soviet biologists working in the Kuril and Komandorskie Islands 

 used landing nets and "boundary nets" to capture otters (Bara- 

 bash-Nikiforov, 1947; Voronov, 1960). 



Ofl^cials of the Alaska Department of Game successfully cap- 

 tured otters in Prince William Sound in a nylon salmon gillnet set 

 from a boat (J. Vania, personal communication). 



At Amchitka, otters haul out at certain times to sleep on beaches. 

 With practice and care we caught these animals in a salmon land- 

 ing net (fig. 82). 



We captured otters most easily during late winter and spring. 

 In this period, prolonged storms caused juveniles and older animals 

 to weaken and come ashore. Healthy young adults were also taken, 

 but less often. In summer, fall, and early winter, when storm 

 periods were of shorter duration, few otters came ashore. In 

 summer months, when calm weather prevailed, otters were par- 

 ticularly difl^icult to net on beaches. In summer, however, numbers 

 did haul out at night to sleep on kelp-covered rocks close to the 

 water. At this season, we found the best opportunities for netting 

 otters when low tide coincided with dawn. 



The reasons that otters may be netted on shore with relative 

 ease are: (1) They often sleep soundly, (2) their sight and hearing 

 are such that unless a moving figure appears above the horizon or 

 unnecessary noises are made, the animals are often unaware of 

 the hunter's presence, (3) they may be easily outrun by a man 

 unless at the water's edge, and (4) they are placid and do not 

 become alarmed easily. 



In general, we found that otters may be classified in order of 



