300 



NORTH AMERICAN FAUNA 68 



Clams— 20 Ib./week at 20 cents/lb. 52 weeks 



Octopus— 346 lb. at 20 cents /lb. 



Fish— 11,658 lb. at 10 cents/lb. 



.$ 208.00 

 69.20 

 . 1,165.80 



Total cost of food— 1 year $1,443.00 



$27.75/week or $3.96/day 



The cost of food for Gus in 1 year, 1 September 1966 to 

 1 September 1967, was more than $1,650 (squid at 30 cents per 

 pound and filleted fish varied from 30 cents to 35 cents per pound). 

 Point Defiance Aquarium Director Cecil Brosseau considers that 

 the annual food cost is close to $1,800 or about $5 per day. 



FEEDING BEHAVIOR OF CAPTIVES 



When captives v^ere kept in ample v^ater they ate readily. Cer- 

 tain individuals consumed food eagerly immediately after capture. 

 Others, in apparent good health, refused to eat for 24 hours or 

 slightly longer. Old and apparently ill animals sometimes refused 

 to eat, or ate too little to survive. 



Within 1 or 2 days of capture, captives learned to beg for 

 food and even after storing a quantity under the foreleg v^ould 

 float on their backs, both forepav^s upheld in a begging posture 

 (fig. 114). Food was usually tossed to otters individually as they 

 floated on their backs. Pieces of fish were sometimes caught 

 between the forepaws but more usually the food item was allowed 

 to strike the chest before it was grasped by the paws. Often when 

 an attendant entered the enclosure carrying a bucket of fish the 

 more aggressive individuals would rush from the water to take 

 food from the hand (fig. 62). At such times they never attempted 

 to bite and would take food lying flat on an extended hand, avoiding 

 contact between teeth and fingers. 



Large adults habitually robbed smaller adults and juveniles, even 

 when the larger ones had all they could carry under the forelegs. 

 The robber would approach the victim from behind or beneath 

 and with one or both forepaws wrench the food from the smaller 

 animal's chest (fig. 115). Certain aggressive adult females growled 

 and snapped at a robbing male, but juveniles and subordinate 

 adults offered no resistance other than to roll away from the 

 robber. Frustration, or perhaps anger, was expressed by the 

 victim at such times by slapping the chest with rapid strokes of 

 both forepaws. 



Because food reserves were often low, it was difl[icult to assure 

 that all captives received sufl?icient food. To reduce pilferage, a 

 bamboo pole was used to deter food-robbing animals. One adult 

 female, however, became so adept that while diving and projecting 



