C ARNiYOBA. MAMMALIA. Carnivora. 
more than a minute. They generally held their prey, 
when they came to the surface, by the head, and 
almost invariably swam with it to a half-sunken log 
or to the margin of the pond, to eat the fish at leis- 
ure.” He found them at another locality, several 
living together in an old dead stump. The trunk of 
the tree was so hollow that it communicated with 
the water, and the Otters had easy access to it under 
the surface of the stream. Audubon visited Cooper 
River to see the Otters that were, at that time, very 
numerous there. He counted, on the morning of his 
visit, forty-six, as they were swimming down with the 
tide, in groups. At the mouth of the river they 
separated, and each pushed on up the various creeks 
to catch Mullet. When the tide rose again, they all 
swam back up the river, to return to their customary 
retreats. He also tamed several Otters, and corrobo- 
rates the stories related concerning their docility, 
and even affection — in the latter respect seeming more 
like that of the Cat ; his pets being in the habit of 
climbing into his lap, and having free range of his 
library. This species is the L. lataxina of Fred. 
Cuvier; L. vulgaris var. canadensis of Wagner; 
Lataxina mollis of Gray ; the same of Gray in 
Aud. and Bachman (W A Quadrupeds ) ; Lutra bra- 
ziliensis, Harlan ; Lutra hudsonica, Fred. Cuvier, in 
Supplement to Buffon, 1831. 'I'he specific characters 
are indicated as follows, viz. : Its length is about 
four and a half feet. The muzzle is longer than wide, 
with a naked point along the medium line of the 
upper lip anteriorly. The under side of the feet, 
near the circumference, is covered with hair, suffi- 
ciently to isolate the naked pads of the tips. A 
hairy strip extends forward from beneath the carpus 
on the palm. The color above is liver-brown, barely 
lighter beneath ; the under surfaces, and sides of 
head and neck, a dirty-whitish. The body is low, 
depressed, and the legs are short. The feet are 
webbed to a point opposite the root of the claws. 
Considerable difference of opinion has been expressed 
concerning the existence of more than one species of 
Otter in the interior of the United States. “The 
differences between the European and American 
Otters,” says Prof. Baird, “are very appreciable, both 
in the external form and the skull, the most striking 
peculiarity of external form in the European being 
the small size of the naked muzzle, as compared with 
the American.” 
CALIFORNIA OTTER [Lutra californica, Gray ). — 
This very closely resembles the Otter of the Eastern 
States. A comparison of it with the L. canadensis, 
by Prof. Baird, gives the following differences : 'I’he 
naked muzzle is decidedly shorter, antero-posteriorly, 
the width remaining the same. Length of the naked 
portion is less than its width, instead of being 
greater, as in L. canadensis, 'i’he angle of the pos- 
terior outline is, consequently, less acute, and is 
shorter, not running so far back on the forehead, 
'ihe septum of the nostrils is narrower, and there is 
no naked point running down from its middle line, 
and partly bi-secting the middle of the upper lip, as 
in the canadensis. Both of our species are distin- 
guished from L. vulgaris of Europe by a great de- 
xlvii 
velopment of the post-orbital process of the frontal 
bone, broad inter-orbital space, very broad and short 
muzzle, &c. Its specific characters are given as fol- 
lows : Length of body about four and a half feet. 'I’he 
naked muzzle is wider than long, no naked point be- 
ing sent down from its anterior edge. 'I'he under 
surfaces of all the feet but slightly hairy ; the naked 
terminal pads not isolated from the other bare por- 
tions by hair, except in the central digits of the fore- 
feet ; the naked portion of the palm not invaded by 
hair from the carpal region. Color above is liver- 
brown, the long hairs with lighter tips; not appreci- 
ably lighter on the belly ; sides, and under surfacer of 
the head and throat, dirty-white. 'I’he ears in this 
species are very small, pointed, and hiffher than 
broad ; the hind-feet are rather larger than the fore, 
but the fingers are proportionately the same. 
Enhydra. — Fleming. 
'I’his genus includes only one species. Its charac- 
ters are seen in a fin-like shape to the fore-feet, the 
anterior ones four-lobed ; the lobe next to the outer 
is the longest, having two claws above; the hind- 
toes become shorter from the fifth to the first. 'I’he 
skull and teeth differ materially from the true Otters. 
'I’he first small premolar of the upper jaw, on either 
side, is wanting, the total number being less by two, 
or thirty-four in all. 
SEA OTTER [Enhydra marina, Fleming)— As.o 
called Kalan in the northern regions. — 'This is a very 
much larger animal than the land Otters, and, in 
its habits and general appearance, rather resembles 
the Seal. It is an inhabitant of the Pacific Coast, 
in both hemispheres ; reaching, on this continent, as 
far south as Monterey. 'I’he fur is of exquisite brill- 
iancy, shining with a glossy velvet-like sheen ; it 
is valued moderately, but sufficiently so to cause a 
gradual scarcity, through the constant warfare made 
on this animal by trappers. 'I’he Sea Otter has a habit 
of leaving the coast when summer commences, and, in 
company with its mate, proceed.^ up the river until it 
reaches the fresh-water lakes of the interior ; there it 
remains until the cold season commences, when it re- 
turns to the open sea, where it is not likely to be de- 
prived of means of subsistence. 'There seems to be a 
special adaptation of the limbs of this creature for 
swimming, and an almost continuous life in the sea, 
differing in this respect from the land Otters, which 
are quite capable of living out of the sea. This is the 
Lutra marina of Steller, Godman, Harlan, Wagner, 
Deinarest and Erxleben ; Latax marina of Lesson ; 
Mustela lutris of Linnaeus and Gmelin ; Phoca lutris 
of Pallas; Lutra lutris of F. Cuvier ; Enhydris stelleri 
of Fischer, and E. gracilis of the same. 
Sub-Family — MELINAS. 
'This group, according to later arrangement, em- 
braces the Skunks and several genera that we have, 
according to the Cuvierean system, placed with the 
Bears. The genus Meles represents the European 
Badger; and Mydaus, Helictis and Arctonyx are 
Asiatic forms ; 'Taxidea and Mephitis being peculiar 
to America. 
