otter is an unusually playful, graceful, active, and powerful animal;
but when caught in a trap becomes exceedingly vicious, and the hunter
must take care lest he be severely bitten. Oo-koo-hoo told me that on
one occasion, when he was hunting otters, he lost his favourite dog.
The dog was holding an otter prisoner in a rocky pocket where the water
was shallow, and the otter, waiting to attack the dog when off guard,
at last got its chance, seized its adversary by the throat, and that
was the end of the dog.

The otter is not only easily tamed, but makes a charming pet, as many a
trader has proved; and it is one of the few animals that actually
indulge in a sport or game for the sheer sake of the thrill it affords.
Thus the otter is much given to the Canadian sports of tobogganing and
"shooting the chute," but it does it without sled or canoe; and at all
seasons of the year it may be seen sharing its favourite
slide--sometimes fifty or a hundred feet in length--with its
companions. If in summer, the descent is made on a grassy or clayey
slope down which the animals swiftly glide, and plunge headlong into
deep water. If the sport takes place on a clay bank, the wet coats of
the otters soon make the slide so slippery that the descent is made at
thrilling speed. But in winter time the sport becomes general, as then
the snow forms a more convenient and easier surface down which to
slide. The otter, though not a fast traveller upon land, is a master
swimmer, and not only does it pursue and overtake the speckled trout,
but also the swift and agile salmon.

Otters den in the river or lake bank and provide an underwater entrance
to their home. They mate in February and the young--never more than
five, but more often two--are born in April; and though their food
includes flesh and fowl--muskrats, frogs, and young ducks--it is