" SPARE THE OTTER " [To the Editor of the
SPECTATOR.] Stn,•--Lt reference to the letter of Mr. Henry B. Amos, I ant sure all followers of otter hounds regret the death of a bitch otter or cubs in the breeding season, but it cannot always be avoided although hounds are frequently, and should always be, called off as soon as cubs are located.
It should be remembered : (1) that otter hunting can only be carried on from the spring to the autumn when the water is not too cold for hounds to swim in for several hours at a time, and during the whole of this season cubs of various ages are found. (2) That otter hounds are invited to hunt various fishing waters such as the River Dee or Severn on the express stipulation that they kilt the otters, otherwise the water wonki be given to some other hunt or the otters would be shot. trapped or exterminated in some other manner in defence of the fisheries.
It is true enough that otters eat frogs and snails in marshY districts where watercourses are small, as may be seen b}• hounds taking the drag across country at full cry when the otter has been travelling and feeding the night before, but generally speaking otters feed on fish as their teeth well indi- cate, and seldom leave the rivers where fish abound. If the holt in which otters are located contains young cubs the
hounds cannot always be got away in time ; but Nature, in a measure, affords protection, as both mother and cubs at this time carry little scent and the mother, although she seldom goes far, invariably shows great resource and powers of concealment sufficient at times to beat both huntsman and hounds. With dog otters it is different : although very resourceful they carry a good scent and travel up or down stream much further.
(3) It should be remembered that otters, like other game animals, " owe their lives to their death " and have an infinitely better time of it than the average domestic beast or bird—a fighting chance at the finish in lieu of being horribly stuck in cold blood like a pig, sheep or bullock.
(4) By their preservation for hunting, otters are far more common now than they were twenty years ago, and yet are much more frequently killed by hounds. As to huntsman and followers themselves, if they can only for the time being hunt with the hound and become as the hounds, they do in a measure get back to a phase of primitive nature and are infinitely improved thereby both in body and mind.
(5) Finally, to make your correspondent's letter of practical use I would suggest that the question of the best method for the protection of breeding otters and cubs be submitted by his association to the Association of Masters of Otter Hounds to consider the calling off of hounds immediately cubs are located and to avoid digging holts until the end of June, except to recover a terrier. It is generally when digging is resorted to before this time that cubs are accidentally destroyed.—I am,
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