THE OTTER. 105

trained, they become very useful, one of
these animals being able to supply a
large family with fish. When the otter,
in its wild state, has taken a fish, he car-
ries it on shore, devours the head and
upper parts, and rejects the remainder.
It is destructive, killing more than it can
eat. The female produces four or five
young in the spring of the year. The
Otter fights obstinately when hunted,
often giving the dogs severe wounds. There
are several species of these animals—the
Sea Otter being the largest. This Otter
sometimes weighs from seventy to eighty
pounds and is of a perfectly black color.