THE OTTER. (Lutra vulgaris.)
“Forth from his den the Otter drew,—
Grayling and trout their tyrant knew,
As between reed and sedge he peers,
With fierce round snout and sharpened ears,
Or, prowling by the moonbeam cool,
Watches the stream or swims the pool.”
Scott.
As the Otter lives principally on fish, the formation of his body is such as will enable him to swim with the greatest facility. His body is flattened horizontally; his tail is flat and broad; his legs are short, and his toes webbed. His teeth are very strong and sharp; and his body, besides its fur, has an outer covering of coarse shining hair. The Otter is a perfect epicure in his food; he seldom eats an entire fish, but beginning at the head, eats that, and about half the body, always rejecting the tail. When the rivers and ponds are frozen so that the Otter can get no fish, he will visit the neighbouring farm-yards, where he will attack the poultry, sucking-pigs, and even lambs. An Otter may be tamed, and taught to catch fish enough to sustain not only himself, but a whole family. Goldsmith states, that he saw an Otter go to a gentleman’s pond at the word of command, drive the fish into a corner, and seize upon the largest of the whole, bring it off, and give it to his master.
Bewick, in his History of Quadrupeds, states, that a person of the name of Collins, who lived at Kilmerston, near Wooler, in Northumberland, had a tame Otter, which followed him wherever he went. He frequently took it to fish in the river; and, when satiated, it never failed to return to him. One day, in the absence of Collins, the Otter, being taken out to fish by his son, instead of returning as usual, refused to come at the accustomed call, and was lost. The father tried every means in his power to recover the animal; and, after several days’ search, being near the place where his son had lost it, and calling it by name, to his inexpressible joy it came creeping to his feet, and showed many marks of affection and attachment.
The female Otter produces four or five young ones at a birth, and these in the spring of the year. Where there have been ponds near a gentleman’s house, instances have occurred of their littering in cellars or drains. The male utters no noise when taken, but the females sometimes emit a shrill squeak.
Otters are generally caught in traps placed near their landing-places, and carefully concealed in the sand. When hunted by dogs, the old ones defend themselves with great obstinacy. They bite severely, and do not readily quit their hold. Otter-hunting is a favourite sport in many parts of Great Britain; particularly in the midland counties of England, and in Wales.