Ways of a water polecat

Last winter, I was asked by a countryman whether I could enlighten him about the strange “crittur as big as a dog” that he sometimes saw on the banks of the river. If that man, who has spent the whole of his life in country places and seeing many otters, has no idea what they were, it is not surprising that many townsfolk know little about them.

There is also the sentimental school of thought, which comes to boiling point whenever otter hunting is mentioned. An account of an otter hunt, which I wrote for the local press, brought forth indignant protests from a gentleman who described otters as “beautiful and harmless animals”. I agree absolutely with the first