LUTRA CANADENSIS. 
89 
in winter, and go so fast that a man has great difficulty in overtaking 
them. On the ice they proceed by a series of what small boys call 
“ a run and a slide,” that is, they make several jumps and then slide 
ahead, fiat on their bellies, as far as their impetus and the smooth- 
ness of the ice permit, and then do the same thing over again, and 
so on. And this mode of progression suggests a curious trait in the 
character of the Otter, i. e., its fondness for sliding down hill. Dr. 
John D. Godman, in his well-known work on “ American Natural 
History,” speaks thus of the habit: “Their favorite sport is sliding, 
and for this purpose in winter the highest ridge of snow is selected, 
to the top of which the Otters scramble, where, lying on the belly 
with the fore-feet bent backwards, they give themselves an impulse 
with their hind legs and swiftly glide head-foremost down the decliv- 
ity, sometimes for a distance of twenty yards. This sport they con- 
tinue apparently with the keenest enjoyment until fatigue or hunger 
induces them to desist.” This statement accords with the observa- 
tions of Cartwright, Hearne, Richardson, Audubon, and others, and 
the last-named author goes on to say that he once witnessed a pair 
of Otters engaged in this pastime, only they were sliding down a 
mud-bank instead of a snow-bank, and remarks: “ we counted each 
one making twenty-two slides before we disturbed their sportive 
occupation.” * The borders of the lakes and streams of the Adiron- 
clacks afford numerous examples of these slides, and also of their 
wallowing places, which are either level beds, or slight depressions, 
in which they play and roll. May’s Lake, a small and secluded body 
of water, abounding in trout, is fairly surrounded by them. 
On the morning of October 2 7, 188 r, the Big Marsh at the head 
of Big Moose Lake was frozen over, with the exception of a narrow 
strip along its north shore. While working our boat up between the 
ice and the shore E. L. Sheppard and I noticed three Otters sporting 
in the open water ahead. They were diving and chasing one another 
after the manner of so many seals. Several times did they jump so 
7 
* Quadrupeds of North America, Vol. II, 1851, p. 8. 
