The sun., 1899-02-12
WISE, FIGHTING Offers.
TRAMPs OF THE ANIMAL WORLD
AND GREAT FISHERMEN.

vasions of the Homes OF Other Animals
Battles with Their Foes-Eondness for
ToboEgnning-H Trappers Catch Them
NEWCASTLE. New Brunswick. Feb. IA
! prime otter skin is worth from SO TO SIS. and
as 1t is much lighter and easier to handle than
the bearskin II is really the best prize that re-
wards the Eastern trappers toll. The silver
gray fox doesn't count, for it-is many years
since q genuine specimen was taken in this
province. A veteran Mlramichi trapper who
; has stretched moro otter pelts than any other
woodsman hereabouts lately thus describes
rome of tho habits OF the otter and the most
approved methods Of capturing him.
Unlike most fur animals. the otter is q poor
housekeeper and seldom builds a home OF his
own. Being unable to lay up any large amount
| OF food for himself. he becomes sort OF tramp.
rambling about through the woods wherever
lakes and streams abound and levyinG toll on
! the way. When he needs u shelter he usually
| appropriates some old muskrat or beaver
/ house. especially the burrow OF a bank beaver.
| He will not hesitate to turn muskrat family
out OF doors In fact, they will be lucky II they
| do not figure on the otters bill OF fare The
| animal has usually number OF wayBide re-
sorts in the shape CT holes and burrows at
| which he tarries In his travels. II the menu
| isn't UP TO the standard he moves on. He
knows how to'build himself q snug. warm bed,
anu Jnhl ~ hDOuI Hb Hb MS uOmebJlC lu-
stIncts 60. When the snow is deep In winter
| he sometimes makes temporary den by bur-
! rowing. In the dead OF winter have known
an otter to remain at lake fSr a month, but
| that is unuSual he Is almost always on the
move, gliding over the ice-bound streams and
lakes. or worminE his way across the interven-
ing ridges. The fact that he Is so constantly in
motion makes him u very difficult animal to
trap. Ihave never caught more than twenty OF
ter In a season. They are found more COM
monty on small lakes than on large ones.
AT all seasons Of the year the otter's main
item OF grub is fish. with muskrats, frogs and
mice on the side. He has n decided hanker-
ing for rabbits. but bunny has too much speed
for him On stormy and windy days l have
known an otter to still hunt a fox aud pounce
upon him like a.hash. The only show Reynard
has then is to exercise the functions of his
feet As soon as the woodland lakes are well
showed over the heat from the water opens
one or more airholes in the ice. either out in
the middle or along the shore. These are
great help. TO the otter in his winter fishing.
lightning swimmer though he il. the otter
cften misses his mark. The capricous trout
and the reminiscent chub keep both eyes
peeled for him and dart under rocks and roots
beyond his reach. Still the otter is very
successful fisherman and very destructive to
waters. up to salmon Of Ave pounds in weight.
One OF the few virtues possessed by the otter
Is that he wages unceasing war upon the eel.
When an otter meets a big eel the policy OF the
otter is one Of benevolent ASST milation. The
sucker. too. often supplies dinner for the OF
ter. About the only chance he has to fool the
otter is to make a previous deal with some
friendly kingasher. The ultimate result. in
either case, is about the same so far as the
sucker is concerned.
THE biggest otters have ever taken have
weighed about fifteen pounds AS fighter the
otter is more than match for dog OF twice
his weight. as he is as lively as a cat and can
bite ten times to the dogs once. His JAWS
work as slick as n sew wing machine and this
makes the dog howl. | have on several occa-
sions seen an otter come out of the water
and start after dog Just as IL the dog was his
meat The1O seems to be no limit to his
pluck. | was once going over my line OF trans
on Bathurst waters In the month of February
when heard something that sounded like one
Of these portablemis you seenowadays squal-
ing and squawkine on little pine knoll few
rods ahead. hustled up the hill and arrived
Just in tmeto see two offers running off after
having actually tackled a lynx in trap. There
was almost enough fur scattered round on the
snow to pack pillow case. most OF which be-
longed 70 the lynx. who was still tanning the
air with all the loose DAVIS he had l gave
chase to the offers and managed to nail one
with my axe under a blowdown the other got
away. When / got back to the lynx he was
dead. His skin was worthless. being torn and
bitten through In more than twenty places.
while the otter skin hardly showed scratch
So lost S1.5O on that fight and made SO.
Il never knew but one case OF a fight be-
tween an otter and beaver. A family OF
beavers had plugged up the gateway OF an DID
driving dam on the Dungarvon. making the
dam watertiRht and flooding the pond toa depth
of four or fve feet. This was about the latter
part of October. had seen an otter fishing In
the pond. 80 thought would try the effect Of
letting down the dam The water ran out rap
idly. and in about hall an hour there was not
more than six inches of muddy water left. in
the pond. The otter started to run through
the gate. but when he saw me standing there
he whired about and darted upstream and
into the beaver house that stood about twenty
rods away on the bank Of the pond The
house had been unoccupied during the sum-
mer. and guess the otter didn't know the hea-
vers had returned. Anyway. the otter came
out of that in less than ten seconds with his
head almost bitten off. One old HEAVIER then
came out and dragged tho corpse through the
mud out into the centre Of the pond and left it
there. / found out alterward that the house
was occupied by TWO Dig beavers ana pair or
kittens. Two nights later the beavers had the
dam repGired and the pond restored to its
former level,
THE female otter brings forth her young
about the latter part Of May or the first OF
June. have heard Of six kittens being found
In litter. but have never seen more than three
] should Judge that heir mating time Is in
October or November as have often seen the
trail at that time CT fve or six big offers trav-
cling together. While the otter Is playful
aiTectiouatc animal. he is very unsociable at
times. The old males will often be found
alone. while the female. accompanied by last
years cubs. Is loft TO shift for.herself Tho
otter.is one OF the easiest animals to tame in
the world. After no has concluded that he be-
longs to you he will follow you around every
where. until he becomes thorough nuisance
The male otter is slightly larger than the fe-
male. Their pets. Ike those OF all the small
fur bearers, are at their best In the winter and
early spring.
The nose OF the otter is fully equal TO that
OF tho fox. have seen otter tracks in the