The much persecuted otter presents himself to our notice among the
worm-bodied, digitigrade animals. Their broad webbed feet shew that they
frequent the water, and in fact, they are not only found in rivers and
lakes of most European countries, but at sea. Their elongated body is
flattened horizontally, their tail is broad and flat, and forms an
excellent rudder for their guidance when in the water. Their short legs
are so loosely jointed that they can be turned in any direction when
swimming, and their fur is soft, fine, and close underneath, while a
longer, coarser set of hard shining hairs, are on the outside. Their
teeth are very pointed, and well adapted to hold their slippery prey;
their ears are very small, and close to their head, and they have a
nictating membrane, or third eyelid, for the protection of their bright
eyes. Their movements in the water are particularly elegant, they swim
horizontally, and rapidly dive after their victims, which they eat
ashore. It is said, that they will collect a number of trouts into a
shoal, and drive them on till, in their dread and alarm, many of the
fishes will throw themselves on to the land. They have the power of
remaining very long under water, at a considerable depth, and the fierce
manner in which they keep dogs at bay, often wounding them severely with
their sharp bites; and the anxious watching for their rise in the water
when they have retreated, all form a most exciting sport, so that we
hear of otter-hunting as a source of keen enjoyment; and there is a hunt
on record in which nine otters were killed in one day.
Otters will certainly consume an immense quantity of fish; and the
owners of salmon or trout streams have great spite against them. It is,
however, very possible to tame them so as to make them bring the fish
which they catch. This practice is much more followed in other countries
than in England; they are purposely kept for it in Sweden, and at a
signal from the cook will go and fetch the fish for dinner. Bishop Heber
mentions, that he saw several large and very beautiful otters fastened
to bamboo stakes by the side of the Matta Colly river, some of which
appeared to be at play, and uttered a shrill, whistling noise. They wore
straw collars and were very tame and docile. They should be caught quite
young, and fed on small fish, then they are allowed bread and milk at
alternate meals; till at last they entirely live upon this food. They
are taught to fetch and carry with artificial fishes made of leather,
and stuffed with wool. Then they are made to bring dead fishes, and if
they attempt to tear them, they are severely punished. Thus trained, in
process of time, the otter becomes useful and domesticated.
In their natural condition, otters will wander to considerable distances
for their prey; Mr. St. John says, "I was rather amused at an old woman
living at Sluie on the Findhorn, who, complaining of the hardness of the
present times, when 'a puir body couldn'a get a drop smuggled whisky, or
shoot a roe without his lordship's sportsman finding it out,' added to
her list of grievances, that even the otters were nearly all gone 'puir
beasties.' 'Well, but what good could the otters do you?' I asked her.
'Good, your honor? why scarcely a morn came but they left a bonny grilse
(young salmon) on the scarp down yonder, and the vennison was none the
worse of the bit the puir beasts ate themselves,' The people here
(Morayshire) call every eatable animal, fish, flesh, or fowl, venison,
or as they pronounce it, vennison. For instance, they tell you that the
snipes are good vennison, or that the trout are not good vennison in the
winter.
"It seems that a few years ago, before the otters had been so much
destroyed, the people in particular parts of the river were never at a
loss for salmon, as the otters always took them ashore, generally to
the same bank or rock, and in seasons of plenty, they only eat a small
piece out of the shoulder, leaving the rest untouched, and the
cottagers, aware of this, searched every morning for their leavings."
"Otters," continues Mr. St. John, "are very affectionate animals; the
young anxiously seek their mother, if she should be killed; and if the
young are injured, the parent hovers near them till she is herself
destroyed. If one of a pair be killed, the one that is left will hunt
for its mate with untiring perseverance; and if one be caught in a trap,
its companion will run round and round, endeavouring to set it free, on
which occasions, though so quiet at other times, they make a snorting
and blowing like a horse."
A dog belonging to the above gentleman was running and splashing through
the shallow water, and suddenly stood still, sometimes whining, as if
caught in a trap, and then biting furiously at something in the water.
He was called by his master, but as he did not obey, his master waded to
him, and found a large otter, holding on by his powerful jaws to the
dog's shoulder; and had he not had a good covering of curly hair, he
stood a chance of having his leg broken, the bite was so severe.
The people in Scotland believe that the otters have a king, or leader,
which is larger than others, and spotted with white. They also believe
that when these animals are killed, a man or another of the brute kind
dies suddenly at the same moment; that their skin possesses an antidote
to infection, preserves soldiers from wounds, and saves sailors from
disasters at sea. The darkness in which otters delight, their watery
habitations, their oily, noiseless movements, and their dark fur, invest
them with mystery in the eyes of the peasantry in many parts of England.
The emigration of otters is established by the following fact:--"A
labourer going to his work, soon after five o'clock in the morning, saw
a number of animals coming towards him, and stood quietly by the hedge
till they came alongside of him. He then perceived four old otters,
probably dams, and about twenty young ones. He took a stick out of the
hedge and killed one. Directly it began to squeak, all the four old ones
turned back, and stood till the other young ones had escaped through the
hedge, and then went quietly themselves. Several families were thus
journeying together, and probably they had left their former abode from
not finding a sufficiency of food."
The beautiful otter in the Museum of the Zoological Gardens is from
Ireland, and is by some considered as a distinct species. It is chiefly
found on the coast of Antrim, living in the caverns formed by the
basaltic columns of that shore, and, as it hunts the salmon, rewards are
offered for its destruction.
The flesh of all otters is extremely rank and fishy; and because it
cannot be called meat, it is often allowed to be eaten on the meager
days appointed by the Romish Church.
Captain Brown, in his Popular Natural History, tells us of a person who
kept a tame otter with his dogs, which followed him in company with
them. He hunted fish with them, and they never would hunt any other
otter as long as he was with them.
There was a tame otter in Northumberland, which also followed his master
wherever he went. He caught his own food, and returned home when
satisfied. Once he refused to come to the usual call when he was out,
and was lost for some days. At length, going back to the same place, he,
with great joy, came creeping to his master's feet, who was still
seeking his favourite.