THE SEA-OTTER 
277 
ally, however, two are bom. I have seen two young 
ones with their mother, and have taken two foetuses 
from the womb of an otter which I had killed. There 
is no particular breeding season for the sea-otter ; 
young of all ages are met with the year round. My 
belief is that the otter attains its full growth about 
the fourth year. The mother otter is a very affection¬ 
ate and devoted parent, and nurses and clings to her 
offspring with the greatest solicitude. Rarely will 
she desert her 46 pup ” when chased, and only then 
when it has been drowned by her constant diving, or 
she has been herself wounded. The mother otter 
swims on her back, and carries her “ pup 55 clasped 
to her breast between her fore-paws. When being 
chased she dives with the “ pup,” carrying it in her 
mouth, gripping it by the skin at the back of its 
neck as a cat carries her kitten. When she dives for 
food, the “pup” is left on the surface of the water, 
lying on its back. 
The cry of the sea-otter is like that of a cat, but 
somewhat harsher. When an otter carrying her 
“ pup ” is being hunted, the mother’s position is 
constantly betrayed by the mewing of the little one 
when they come to the surface to breathe after 
diving. I have had many sea-otter “ pups ” at 
different times in my possession, and have often 
kept one alive on board the schooner for a week or 
more, feeding it on preserved milk. The end was 
always the same ; it became such a nuisance, with 
its constant mewing day and night, that for the sake 
of a little quiet it had to be killed. In crawling 
around on deck, a “ pup ” would double the toes pa,rt 
of the hind-limbs back under the soles when drawing 
its flippers under its body to make a move forward, 
