CLASS I. MAMMALIA: OKDER 5. CARNIVORA. 
31Y 
it to make the swiftest turns, nay, almost bonnds in the water, according as the rapidity of its 
agile prey demands a sudden downward dive, an upward spi'ing, or a side snap. The short 
fur, which is close and fine, keeps the body at a proper tempei'ature, and the longer and outer 
hairs directed baclnvards, enable it to glide through the Avater, when propelled horizontally 
by its webbed feet beneath the surface, noiselessly and speedily. Easy and elegant in its motions, 
there are few objects more attractive in menageries than the pond, especially if it be kept clean 
and supplied with clear water, wherein the otter is seen to hunt its living prey. When it has 
seized a small fish, it instantly leaves the water and devours it, beginning w^ith the head, while 
the body is held between the fore-paws Larger fish are held down by the paws, and the head 
and tail are often left uneaten. The havoc made by these animals in the rivers and ponds is 
great; for they will go on killing, and eat but a small portion of each fish, if it be large, when 
they find plenty of prey. When fish is scarce, and it is pressed by hunger, the otter has been 
known to resort far inland, to the neighborhood of the farm-yard, and attack lambs, sucking-pigs, 
poultr}^, and 3''oung domestic animals; the stomach of one, killed in June, has also been found, 
filled with a curious collection of larvae and earth-worms. The period of gestation is said to be 
nine weeks, and the number of young produced varies from three to five. The otter's places of 
refuge near rivers and lakes are beneath the roots of trees or in holes. 
This animal is found generally throughout Europe. Though chiefly living amid rivers, lakes 
and ponds, it is not confined to the fresh waters. They are known to frequent the sea in the 
north of Scotland, and to hunt far out in the Avater. In the south of England — Cornwall — the 
otter will go a mile from the shore, in the summer and good weather, after its prey. On the sea- 
shore, rocky caves with scattered blocks, hollows, and cavities under large stones, are its haunts. 
The otter is capable of domestication and attachment. Goldsmith mentions one which went 
into a gentleman's pond at the word 6f command, drove the fish up into a corner, and having 
seized on the largest, brought it out of the water to its master. Daniel, Bewick, Shaw, Bell, and 
Macgillivray furnish corroborating facts. The latter has collected the following anecdotes: "Mr. 
M'Diarraid, in his amusing 'Sketches from Nature,' gives an account of several domesticated 
otters, one of which, belonging to a poor Avidow, when led forth plunged into the Uur, or the 
neighboring burns, and brought out all the fish it could find. Another, kept at Corsbie House, 
Wigtonshire, evinced a great fondness for gooseberries, fondled about her keeper's feet like a pup 
or kitten, and even seemed inclined to salute her cheek, when permitted to carry her freedoms 
so far. A third, belonging to Mr. Monteith, of Carstairs, was also very tame, and though he fre- 
quently stole away at night to fish by the pale light of the moon, and associate Avith his kindred 
by the river side, his master, of course, Avas too generous to find any fault with his peculiar mode 
of spending his evening hours. In the morning he was always at his post in the kennel, and no 
animal understood better the secret of keeping his own side of the house. Indeed, his pugnacity 
in this respect gave him a great lift in the favor of the game-keeper, Avho talked of his feats Avher- 
ever he Avent, and avowed, besides, that if the best cur that ever ran 'only dared to grin' at his 
protege he would soon 'mak his teeth meet through him.' To mankind, however, he was much 
more civil, and allowed himself to be gently lifted by the tail, though he objected to any inter- 
ference Avith his snout, which is probably with him the seat of honor." They are, however, dan- 
gerous pets; for, if offended, they will bite grievously. 
As an article of food, the flesh being fishy, the otter AA'as not forbidden by the Roman Catho- 
lics. Their church permitted it to be eaten on maigre days, and Pennant saAv one in the kitchen 
of the Carthusians, near Dijon, under preparation for the dinner of the religious of that rigid 
order, Avho, by their rules, are prohibited during their whole hves, from eating flesh. Mr. Mac- 
gillivray states that he knew a man in the island of Harris who procured a considerable number 
every year, when the skins were more in request than noAv, and who generally cooked the flesh, 
of Avhich Mr. Macgillivray once partook with the family. It Avas "dark-colored, rank, sapid 
enough, but not agreeably so;" and under the skin was a layer of fat, as in the seals, which might, 
he adds, "render it pleasant food to a Greenlander or starving Hebridian," 
The Irish Otter has been elevated to the rank of a species by Mr. Ogilby, under the name of 
L, Roensis, on account of the intensity of its coloring, Avhich approaches nearly to black both on 
