Ways of a water polecat

The otter is indeed beautiful but, as a mustelid, it is far from harmless and is best controlled by hunting with hounds, argues J Ivester Lloyd

- J Ivester Lloyd

Last winter, I was asked by a countryman whether I could enlighten him about the strange “critter 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 the 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 part of this description. Otters are beautiful. So are stoats, foxes, and even healthy rats. But I cannot accept the idea that they are harmless. What animal with the weasel family’s taste for warm flesh could be entirely harmless when in the wild state?

I once broadcast a talk on the otter in the Midland Regional Children’s Hour. I was just leaving the studio when a telephone call came through from the anatomical department of Birmingham University. The learned professor on the line was asking for proof of my statement that otters breed at any time of the year.

I had always accepted the belief of otter hunters, that otter cubs may be produced in any month. One of the biggest worries in otter hunting is to make sure that the hunted otter is not a bitch with cubs.

As a result of this conversation and subsequent correspondence. I set out to discover more about the breeding habits of otters. After an inquiry that lasted more than 12 months, I decided I was quite right; otter cubs have been produced in every month of the year, though it is probable that the majority arrive in March or April.