Transcriber Note
Text emphasis is denoted as _Italics_.
THE BOOK OF THE OTTER
[Illustration: Otter Basking in Shallow Water.
(_Copyright by Alfred Taylor, Whalley_). _Frontispiece._
]
THE BOOK OF
THE OTTER
_A MANUAL FOR SPORTSMEN AND
NATURALISTS_
BY
RICHARD CLAPHAM
AUTHOR OF
"FOX-HUNTING ON THE LAKELAND FELLS,"
"ROUGH SHOOTING," ETC.
_With Illustrations from Photographs by the Author
F. Lees and Alfred Taylor_
AND AN INTRODUCTION BY
WILLIAM THOMPSON, M.O.H.
[Illustration]
HEATH CRANTON, LIMITED
6 FLEET LANE, LONDON, E.C.4.
PREFACE
In these days otter-hunting is a popular sport, and in consequence there
are now many more packs of otterhounds than was formerly the case. Of all
beasts of chase in this country, the otter is the one about which we know
least, for he is a great wanderer, a creature of the night, and therefore
difficult to study systematically.
Of the many people who follow hounds, comparatively few understand the
science of hunting, or the habits of the creature which forms their
quarry. This is probably to some extent due to the fact that there are
very few books dealing exclusively with the otter and his hunting. A
knowledge of the science of hunting and the habits of the quarry can be
picked up by those who have leisure to study the subject afield, but
there are others whose opportunities of doing so are limited. It is,
therefore, in the hope of interesting and perhaps instructing the latter,
that we have written the following chapters.
R. CLAPHAM.
Troutbeck,
Windermere.
_April, 1922._
CONTENTS
CHAP. PAGE
PREFACE 7
INTRODUCTION 13
I. THE NATURAL HISTORY OF THE OTTER 21
II. THE OTTER'S HAUNTS AND HABITS 42
III. OTTER-HUNTING, PAST AND PRESENT 73
IV. HOUNDS AND TERRIERS 112
V. REMINISCENCES 132
INDEX 157
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
OTTER BASKING IN SHALLOW WATER _Frontispiece_
_To face page_
OTTER TRACKS LEAVING WATER, WALKING 40
FURROW MADE BY OTTER IN DEEP SNOW 40
TUNNEL MADE BY OTTER IN SNOW 53
OTTER TRACKS IN SNOW, JUMPING 53
THE HUNTSMAN BRINGING HIS OTTER ASHORE 79
K. AND D.O.H. RETURNING TO THE MAIN RIVER 79
A KILL WITH THE K. AND D.O.H. 102
HI, WORRY, WORRY! 102
A FAMOUS OTTERHOUND, MR W. THOMPSON'S "SNOWDROP" 116
SOME OF MR W. THOMPSON'S ROUGH OTTERHOUNDS 116
K. AND D.O.H. MOVING OFF TO DRAW 139
GOING TO THE MEET BY FERRY ON LAKE WINDERMERE 139
INTRODUCTION
Beck House,
Giggleswick,
_Feb. 12th, 1922_.
My Dear Clapham,--I am much flattered at your invitation to write an
introduction to your "Book of the Otter," and only wish I were a good
enough hand with the pen to do your most interesting book the justice it
deserves.
If I were asked to find fault with your work I should say its only
failing was its brevity. And I would ask for a few more hunts and to
have them rather more elaborated. And if you could not only expound to
whips, either amateur or professional, how you do your own work as such
_but make them into whips as good as yourself thereby_ you would take
an enormous amount of worry and responsibility off many a huntsman's
shoulders.
As you say in your letter to me, a book on such an interesting subject
is sure to create a friendly criticism, more particularly on such
controversial subjects as early meets versus late ones and pure-bred
otterhounds versus draft foxhounds.
Admittedly you and I have always taken rather opposite views on these
two questions, so despite the very fair pros and cons you give these
respective arguments in your book, may I put in a further argument in
each case on behalf of hounds?
Take early meets with a pack hunting three and four days a week. It is
only possible to have early meets in the hottest part of the year--say
middle of June to end of August in our North Country, and a rather longer
period with South and West Country packs. Say hounds meet at five a.m.
on four days in the week. Hounds may have to take anything from one to
two hours to get from kennels to the meet. The men are in kennel at
least an hour before the hunting pack turns out, so we know that hounds
get no rest after that hour, which is probably shortly after two a.m.
Hounds would normally be back in kennel after a day of this sort within
an hour or two of midday. For the rest of that day, apart from the
disturbance--to hounds--of ordinary kennel routine, they are unable to
get genuine rest on a hot summer's afternoon. The result is that after
a fortnight, or even a week of such work--and I have many instances in
my old hunting diaries of both--you get a jaded pack, a tired staff, and
a weary Master. And I have been unfortunate enough myself to have never
seen even a hunt before eight a.m.
If anyone will guarantee to put hounds on to the line of a travelling
dog otter on a given day I would be there with hounds every time. But
otherwise, no thank you.
As to otterhounds versus foxhounds, I am convinced that finance, or
rather the lack of it, is the only reason why draft foxhounds are
preferred to otterhounds. Otter-hunting is a poor man's sport, and few
people realise what it costs to run a pack and country. If you get a
Master to take a country he has very often spent enough out of his own
pocket when he has paid the difference between the subscription list and
the hunting expenses. And breeding hounds on a big scale adds enormously
to expenses. The result is that in nine cases out of ten the pack is
made up of draft dog foxhounds, and a very few rough-coated otterhounds.
An attempt may be made to breed a litter or two a year from the rough
otterhound bitches. Five or six puppies may be got out to walk, and three
or four left in kennel. As many of these as survive--possibly two and a
half or three couple--are brought on the following season, and unless
they are hopeless physical wrecks they are put into the pack to keep
up the theory that they are a pack of _otterhounds_. And good or bad
workers they are often kept on for this same purpose only. Under these
circumstances, and they are far from uncommon, no wonder the average
member of an otter-hunting field prefers the foxhound. Any M.O.H. can get
draft foxhounds, and frequently get them as a gift--hounds that have been
the best of fox-hunters and fox-catchers, but have got too slow or for
any of a dozen other reasons are unable to run up to the pace of a modern
foxhound pack. These draft hounds know all about hunting, and only want
entering to their new quarry to make most excellent otter-hunting hounds
at a minimum of expense and trouble.
But if an M.O.H. breeds otterhounds on the same lines that foxhounds are
bred, breeds by selection, breeds each year enough puppies to get a big
enough young entry the following year--big enough not only to be able to
put down immediately any physical crock that may come in, but big enough
to allow for drafting a certain number--during and at the end of their
first season you can have, in my humble opinion, a pack of pure-bred
otterhounds, not only not inferior to, but superior to any pack of draft
foxhounds. I may appear too enthusiastic on this point--I am certainly
rather disappointed. I bought my first otterhounds in 1903. I started
breeding in 1905. In July, 1914, having for two or three years prior to
that date put over fifty puppies out to walk each year, I had just over
forty couple of pure-breed otterhounds in kennel. And I was hoping to
prove that before many more years passed my confidence in the otterhound
was not misplaced. But in 1919 I was reduced to under ten couple, and
circumstances have since prevented me continuing my experiment to
anything like the same extent. And I must say that I have never found the
otterhound quarrelsome either in kennel or out.
I hope you will forgive my keen advocacy on behalf of the pure-bred
otterhound. I am sure we should both dislike to see him entirely
eliminated from the hunting-field, and only to be found as a weird and
useless animal on the show bench.
May your book have the great success that it deserves. That it will
give great pleasure to all who know anything about the otter and the
hunting of it, I am sure. That it will be the means of attracting many
new converts I devoutly hope. And if I may add a wish with a yet more
personal note, may I meet yourself and all my other good otter-hunting
friends at many another good hunt, whether the meet be late or early, the
hounds otterhounds or foxhounds.
Yours very sincerely,
W. Thompson.
CHAPTER I
THE NATURAL HISTORY OF THE OTTER
The common otter of the British Islands, known in scientific
classification as _Lutra vulgaris_, belongs to the Mustelidæ, or in other
words the weasel family. Included in the latter are the martens and their
allies, whose chief attributes are activity, length of body and tail,
shortness of legs, widely separated toes, and small claws. The otter is
the possessor of similar attributes, with additional developments to
fit it for an aquatic existence. If therefore we describe the otter as
an aquatic marten, living chiefly on a fish diet, we shall probably not
be deviating very far from the truth. Swimming is an inherited instinct
handed down through the ages, and though it has been lost by man, it has
been developed and taken advantage of by many creatures, in order to
enable them to lead an aquatic existence. The reason for this intensive
development of their swimming powers by certain animals probably lies in
the fact that aquatic life opened a wider and safer field for them, both
in the matter of food supplies and protection from their natural enemies.
The otter family is widely distributed over the globe, so before entering
upon a detailed description of our British otter, it may be of interest
to glance at other species inhabiting foreign countries. The typical
otters are marine as well as aquatic in their habits, many of them
visiting the sea, where they live in the caves and other retreats along
the coast. There is one of the family, however, i.e., the sea-otter,
which is entirely marine. The skin of this otter has always been keenly
sought for by fur-traders and trappers, and it is owing to constant
harassing by such people that the sea-otter is now all but extinct. This
otter differs in many ways from its aquatic relations. It possesses large
flipper-like hind feet, a short tail, and small, delicate forefeet.
The hind paws alone are used for swimming, the delicate and sensitive
forefeet being employed in locating the otter's food, consisting of
mussels, crabs, and other shell-fish, which it hunts for amongst the
rocks at the bottom of the sea. This otter spends its entire existence in
salt water, and has been found as far as twenty miles from land.
The female usually has but a single young one, born, so it is thought, on
the large beds of seaweed commonly known as kelp. Lying on her back in
the sea, the mother sleeps and suckles her baby in that position.
In Africa there is a species known as the spotted-necked otter, which has
shorter ears, longer toes, and more hair about its nose than the common
otter. Africa also produces a large otter which has more or less given up
its aquatic habits. The claws on this otter's forepaws have disappeared,
while those on the hind feet have practically done so. In India there is
a small otter whose claws resemble those of the foregoing, and in both
animals the sense of touch in the forepaws is extremely delicate, which
no doubt enables the creatures to locate certain of their prey by feeling
for it. In the large African otter the webs between the toes are greatly
reduced, and the facial bristles or "whiskers" are much softer than those
possessed by the common otter.
South America can boast of a very large otter, whose tail is wider and
more flattened than is the case with the otters above mentioned. It will
thus be seen that there are only slight differences between individuals
composing the typical otters.
[Illustration: No. 1.
Otter's Rudder.]
The common British otter (_Lutra vulgaris_) is known by a variety of
names in this country. The Welsh call the animal dwrgi, while in Cornish
it is written durgi. In the Highlands, where Gaelic is spoken, the name
is dòbhran. The physical formation of the otter is admirably adapted to
fit it for an aquatic existence. In order to offer the least possible
resistance to the water when the animal is swimming below the surface,
the otter's head and muzzle are flattened, and the ears are very small.
Both ears and nostrils can be closed to exclude the water. The body
is long, low, and sinuous in movement, set upon short legs which are
loosely articulated. The feet are palmate, with five toes armed with
short, non-retractile claws, and perfect interdigital webs. The tail is
more than half the length of the head and body, broad at the base, and
horizontally flattened. Beneath the root of the tail will be found a pair
of small glands containing a fetid liquid secretion. Being an aquatic,
sub-Arctic species, the otter is furnished with a body covering of two
kinds. The thick, close under-fur, which attains special luxuriance of
growth, is provided for two purposes, i.e., for keeping out the wet when
the animal is in the water, and for preventing loss of heat during cold
weather. Overlying this under-coat is a covering of longer hairs, which
are stiffer and more shiny, greyish in colour at the base, and brown at
the tips. This dark colouring shows in most pronounced fashion on the
upper portions of the body, and on the outer surfaces of the legs and
shoulders. The inner portions of the legs, belly, chest, throat, and
cheeks are brownish-grey. The throat often shows a good deal of white or
greyish-white in irregular patches. This, however, varies considerably in
individual specimens, some showing a good deal of it, others practically
none at all. Turning again to the head, we find the eyes small and dark
coloured, while the so-called "whiskers" are long, stiff, and thick at
the base. These long, stiff hairs grow on the upper-lip, and there is a
tuft of them over each eye, and two tufts--one below the other--on each
cheek. In the case of the domestic cat these "whiskers" are soft, and
possess a very delicate sense of touch, thus enabling the animal to creep
noiselessly through undergrowth in pursuit of prey. Should the cat's
"whiskers" touch the grass or other growth on each side, puss is then
instinctively aware that there is not sufficient room for her body to
pass, and that she will therefore make a rustling sound if she persists
in her advance, and so alarm her prey. These soft hairs on the cat's face
are quite adequate for her purpose, because she hunts on land and hates
wet. Soaked with water the soft hairs would droop and prove useless,
and so it is for this reason that the otter's "whiskers" have gradually
developed until now they are strong and stiff in order to withstand the
exigencies of frequent underwater journeys. They are used, too, in a
rather different way, for although while on land they may aid the otter
to make a quiet approach on prey, their chief purpose is for locating
food--in the shape of frogs, fish, etc.--either beneath stones, or on
the bottom of the riverbed. The long hairs on the otter's upper-lip are
susceptible of considerable movement, for their development has been
followed by that of the muscles beneath, which give the puffy appearance
to the otter's face. Provided with perfect interdigital webs on all four
feet, the otter when swimming slowly, paddles in exactly the same manner
as a dog. When the speed is increased, however, the tail is brought into
action, being moved from side to side, while the body is thrown into
sinuous curves.
[Illustration: No. 2.
OTTER'S HEAD, SHOWING WHITE MARKINGS ABOUT THE MOUTH AND THROAT.]
The otter, like the seal, feeds upon fish, but whereas the seal swallows
its prey whole and entire, the otter masticates its food. The teeth
of the otter are therefore adapted to crushing bones, which, if not
thoroughly broken up, would lodge in the animal's throat. The two back
teeth in the otter's upper jaw are considerably enlarged, and are
provided with cutting edges and a flat crushing surface. Provided with a
short and powerful jaw, armed with a formidable array of teeth, the otter
is capable of inflicting a very nasty bite, as many a hound and terrier,
as well as otter-hunter, has had cause to remember. Luckily the otter is
a clean-feeding animal, and the after results of a bite are usually not
serious.
In the matter of size and weight, otters vary considerably, those found
on or near the sea coast being usually heavier than otters frequenting
inland waters. No doubt the quantity and quality of the food supply has a
good deal to do with the variation. Roughly speaking, the average weight
of a dog otter is from 20 lb. to 24 lb., and of a bitch, 16 lb. to 20 lb.
As far as record weights are concerned, Daniel mentions an otter taken in
the river Lea in October, 1794, which scaled "upwards of 40 lb." Turning
to a more reliable source of information, however, we find in the _Field_
of July 5th, 1919, a list of the lengths and weights of eleven large
otters killed in Norfolk. I take the liberty of quoting the particulars
which are as follows:
Males, 48 inches, 37 lb.; 53½ inches, 30 lb.; 50½ inches, 28 lb.;
53 inches, 27 lb.; 50 inches, 27 lb.; 50 inches, 23 lb.; 48 inches, 23
lb.; 49 inches, 18½ lb.
Females, 46 inches, 16 lb.; 43 inches, 16 lb.; 44 inches, 14 lb.
It will be seen from the above how extremely weight varies in relation
to measurement. Bitch otters occasionally weigh far heavier than any of
those mentioned in the foregoing list.
In the _Field_ of September 22nd, 1917, an old record is given (March,
1813) of a large bitch otter trapped near Leven's Hall, Westmorland,
measuring 54 inches, and weighing 27¾ lb. The record otter killed by
hounds, a dog otter of 34 lb., was accounted for by the Essex O.H. on
July 10th, 1907, during Mr Rose's mastership of that pack. This otter
was found in the sea marshes near Ipswich. Generally speaking, very few
otters of 30 lb. or over are accounted for by hounds.
It appears to be a matter of uncertainty as to how long a bitch otter
goes with young. We have heard it said nine weeks, but have no reliable
evidence to go by. As to the number of cubs in a litter, two appear to be
more often laid down than three, although five have been more than once
found in the same couch. Roughly speaking, the average number appears to
be from two to three.
As to how many years an otter in a wild state will live, it is
practically impossible to say. We have seen otters killed by hounds,
whose general appearance and state of their teeth pointed to the fact
that they had arrived at a ripe old age. Otter cubs of similar age have
been found in every month of the year, thus exploding the old supposition
that otters bred only in spring. Young bitch otters appear to pair as
soon as they arrive at maturity, thus cubs are produced as above stated.
Otters of abnormal colour make their appearance from time to time. In the
Badminnten volume on "Hunting," there is an account of a cream-coloured
otter killed on the West Dart, while in "A Fauna of Argyll" by
Harvie-Brown and Buckley, there is mention of a pure white otter which
was killed in Jura.
Although a clean-feeding animal, the otter is a creature one hardly
associates with human food. For all that the heart and other portions of
an otter's anatomy have been served up at table on several occasions ere
now, presumably we suppose for experimental purposes. Which reminds us
of the yarn concerning the old trapper, who when asked if he had ever
eaten turkey-buzzard, replied "Yes, siree, I _have_ eaten turkey-buzzard,
but I don't _hanker_ after it." On one occasion we became possessed of
a dead otter, whose carcass, after skinning, we presented to two dogs.
The latter promptly turned up their noses at it, whereas several cats to
which it was afterwards given set about devouring it quite keenly. In the
case of hounds, unless the carcass of their quarry is still warm and they
are excited by the free use of horn and voice, they will show no great
desire to do more than tear the body of an otter.
The otter's hide--covering a sinuous body, with loosely articulated
limbs--is tough, and offers more resistance to hounds' teeth than the
skin of a fox, which soon disintegrates when worried by the pack. As far
as hounds are concerned, the scent of an otter must at times be to them
exceedingly strong, yet to the human nose--even if the latter is held
close to the animal's body--there is only a faint and not unpleasant
odour, very different to the rank scent of a fox.
As previously mentioned, there appears to be considerable uncertainty
as to how long the bitch otter goes with young. In the "Master of
Game," the oldest and most important work on the chase in the English
language, written between the years 1406 and 1413 by Edward III.'s
grandson Edward, second Duke of York, there is a short chapter on "The
Otter and His Nature," in which it says that the otter bears her young
as long as the ferret does. This chapter is of great interest, both as
regards the knowledge of venery possessed by mediaeval hunters, and the
quaint wording of the letterpress. For this reason we take the liberty
of quoting it in full. It says, "An otter is a common beast enough and
therefore I need not tell of his making. She liveth with (on?) fish and
dwelleth by rivers and by ponds and stanks (pools). And sometimes she
feedeth on grass of the meadows and hideth gladly under the roots of
trees near the rivers, and goeth to her feeding as doth other beasts to
grass, but only in the new grass time, and to fish as I have said. They
swimmeth in waters and rivers and sometimes diveth under the water when
they will, and therefore no fish can escape them unless it be too great
a one. They doth great harm specially in ponds and stanks, for a couple
of otters without more shall well destroy the fish of a great pond or
great stank, and therefore men hunt them. They go in their love at the
time that ferrets do, so they that hold (keep) ferrets in their houses
may well know the time thereof. They bear their whelps as long as the
ferrets and sometimes more and sometimes less. They whelp in holes under
the trees near the rivers. Men hunt at them with hounds by great mastery,
as I say hereafter.[1] And also men take them at other times in rivers
with small cords as men do the fox with nets and with other gins. She
hath an evil biting and venomous and with her strength defendeth herself
mightily from the hounds. And when she is taken with nets unless men get
to her at once she rendeth them with her teeth and delivereth herself out
of them. Longer will I not make mention of her, nor of her nature, for
the hunting at her is the best that men may see of her, save only that
she has the foot of a goose, for she hath a little skin from one claw
to another, and she hath no heel save that she hath a little lump under
the foot, and men speak of the steps or the marches of the otter as men
speak of the trace of the hart, and his fumes (excrements) tredeles or
spraints. The otter dwelleth but little in one place, for where she goeth
the fish be sore afraid. Sometimes she will swim upwards and downwards
seeking the fish a mile or two unless it be in a stank.
[Footnote 1: The author of "Master of Game" does not say anything more
about the otter.]
"Of the remnant of his nature I refer to Milbourne[2] the king's
otter-hunter."
[Footnote 2: The Milbourne referred to by the Duke of York can scarcely
be any other than the William Melbourne we find mentioned in Henry IV's
reign as "Valet of our Otterhounds" (note in appendix to "Master of
Game").]
If otters "bear their whelps as long as the ferrets," the period of
gestation is six weeks or forty-five days. Bitch ferrets come in heat in
April or May, and unless mated some of them apparently remain more or
less in that condition during the summer months.
The excrement of the otter, known in hunting parlance as "spraints,"
"wedging," or "coke," is usually of a blackish colour, and contains
the bones and scales of fish. Sometimes it shows the remains of fur or
feather, which is proof positive that the otter does not live entirely
upon a fish diet.
Where an otter has been feeding on frogs, the coke is usually a yellowish
colour. In sand or soft earth an otter will scrape the latter into a
small mound, like a cat, and for the same purpose.
Coke is generally found on stones in midstream, or at points where
the otter enters or leaves the water. A small grassy promontory is a
favourite place, and at such spots the grass often grows particularly
green. If the grass is long, the coke will be found hidden amongst
it. It is popularly supposed that the direction in which an otter is
travelling--up or down stream--can be verified by the position in which
the coke is left on the stones. In our experience there is little
reliability about this theory. On a rock in midstream the position of the
coke is quite as likely to be in the centre as at the sides, particularly
if there is a tuft of grass or other growth on the stone.
An otter is quite likely to turn round, just as a cat or dog does, prior
to depositing the coke, therefore the position of the latter can hardly
be a reliable guide as to the direction taken by the animal when it
eventually moves off.
Owing to being the possessor of a webbed foot, with five toes and short
claws, the otter leaves a track--in hunting parlance "spur," "seal," or
"mark,"--entirely different from that of any other animal to be met with
in this country. Amongst the general literature relating to the otter,
we have found small reference to the animal's footprints, while in some
cases the information on the subject was incorrect. For instance in one
article we read, it states "No other creature, saving a cat, leaves such
a print on Nature's page as does an otter. Four round small toes and, if
the soil be favourable, a plain triangle just behind where the webbing of
the foot has rested."
[Illustration: No. 3.
LEFT FOREFOOT OF OTTER, OPEN, SHOWING INTERDIGITAL WEBS.]
[Illustration: No. 4.
LEFT FOREFOOT OF OTTER, CLOSED.]
Now an otter--like the badger, stoat, weasel, and hedgehog--has five toes
on each foot, and the marks of the claws or nails are always visible in
the footprints. A cat has four toes, armed with retractile claws, the
marks of which are not shown on the ground, except when the animal is
about to make a spring. Although a cat track may approximate in size to
that of an otter cub, the latter always shows claw-marks, and partial if
not entire imprints of five toes. On hard ground, claw-marks will show
when the impression of the rest of the foot is practically invisible,
so anyone with a knowledge of woodcraft can hardly mistake the track of
a cat for that of an otter cub. In the same way with the footprints of
hounds, terriers, or other dogs, their tracks all show the imprints of
four toes, plus the marks of the claws. A terrier's track is far more
like that of a fox than an otter, while hounds leave large footprints,
easy to distinguish.
[Illustration: Otter Tracks Leaving Water, Walking.
(_Photo by R. Clapham_).
]
[Illustration: Furrow made by Otter in Deep Snow.
(_Photo by R. Clapham_). _To face p. 40._
]
We have also seen it stated that the track of an otter is "recognisable
by the mark of its five toes, and the absence of a heel." Under certain
conditions this is true enough, but on favourable ground the mark of the
heel is plainly visible. In like manner an impression of the webbing is
sometimes left. In snow of fair depth, the individual tracks of an otter
are more or less obliterated by the drag of the animal's body, which
leaves a furrow as if a miniature snow-plough had been at work. Also
in snow the drag of the otter's tail--in hunting parlance "rudder" or
"pole"--is generally to be seen.
The otter has three gaits: walking, jumping, and galloping. The walk
shows a line--usually rather twisting--of footprints one behind the
other. When jumping the tracks appear in pairs, with an interval between
each pair. At this gait the imprints of the hind feet cover the tracks
made by the forefeet. At the gallop, which is really jumping at top
speed, the hind feet are thrown ahead of the forefeet.