The food of the otter consists principally of fish, trout being their favorite food; but they also feed on muskrats, clams, frogs, and the smaller animal life, found in the beds of streams and lakes.
They capture muskrats by entering their houses and their holes in the banks. Otters usually make burrows in the banks of streams, lining the nest with leaves and grass. The entrances to these burrows are under the water. The young are born in April and May and there are from two to four in a litter.
The otter is a great traveler, following the lakes and waterways, sometimes going a distance of one hundred miles on a single trip. Apparently he is always in a great hurry to reach a certain place—some lake or pond—at which, having reached, he may remain for several months, and then again he may leave immediately after his arrival.
Otters sometimes have slides on the banks of streams, down which they slide into the water, apparently as a pastime. They also have landing places on the banks of streams and on logs projecting into the water, where they go to roll in the grass and leaves, or to lie in the sun. These places are seldom visited in the fall, but in the spring, they will land at almost every place as they come along.
In traveling, they usually follow the center of the stream, as they are more at home in the water than on land. In winter they travel under the ice, wherever the water is deep enough to allow them passage. The otter’s legs being very short, it has a peculiar method of traveling on the ice or snow. It throws himself forward, sliding on its belly, and by repeating the move in rapid succession, is enabled to get along at a surprising rate of speed.
Wherever there is a sharp bend in the stream, the otter will make a short cut across the point, and if the stream is traveled much, you will find a well-defined trail in such a place. Where two streams lie close together, they sometimes have a trail from one stream to another. Also wherever a long point of land projects into a lake, they are likely to have a trail across the point.
The otter appears to be on very friendly terms with the beaver, and if there are any beavers in the country, the otter is sure to find them and will spend considerable time in the same pond. When there are a number of families of beavers in the same locality, the otter will spend nearly all of its time with the beavers, visiting from one family to another. Wherever he finds beaver cutting along the stream, he examines it, and will most likely follow up the stream to find the beaver.
In the North, the otter becomes prime about the first week in November, and remains in good condition until about the first of June. In the South they are seldom prime until the first of December, and commence to shed from the first to the fifteenth of April. The fur of the otter is valuable; the dark, straight haired ones being worth the most. The most valuable otters come from the far North, but they are probably more plentiful in the South, and the Southern trapper has the advantage of having open water all winter.
The great point to keep in mind when trapping for otter is that they are very shy of the scent of man; more so perhaps than any other animal. And unless great care is observed, they are likely to be frightened entirely out of the locality in which you are trapping. This human scent theory is disputed by some trappers. But if one will use a little judgment, he will readily understand why human scent is alarming to many wild animals. Man is the natural enemy of all wild animal life, and all wild creatures realize this fact. Any indication of the presence of man puts the animal on guard; this is especially the case in the wilderness where the animals are not accustomed to seeing the tracks of man. When an animal finds human scent, he has positive proof that man has been in that vicinity.
If there is no scent, footprints and other human signs are not so alarming, as they are likely to be mistaken for signs made by some wild animal.
Remember, the otter is sure to visit the beavers, if there are any about, so if you know of a family of beavers, go to that place and if you can find an old beaver dam on the stream somewhere, below where the beavers are located, make a break in the center of this dam, so that all of the water will flow through this opening and set the trap in the water, in the upper end of this passage. Narrow down the passage to about eight inches by driving a few old stakes on each side of the trap. The trap may be staked, but it is better if the water is deep enough to use a sliding pole, so that the captured animal will drown. No covering is needed on the trap but, after it is set, the entire setting should be drenched with water to remove the human scent. This is an excellent set and will remain in working order until late in the fall, as the water immediately above the break in the dam will not freeze until long after other water is closed by ice. Even in the coldest weather this set may be kept from freezing by roofing it over with evergreen boughs and banking it well with snow.
Beavers and beaver dams are not found in every locality, but wherever otters are found traveling on small streams, they may be trapped in the following manner:
Find a narrow place in the stream where the water flows smoothly and narrow up the stream by placing a bunch of old dead brush in each side, leaving a passage of about eight inches in the middle. Lay a few stones among the brush to keep them in place. Set the trap in the opening and splash water over the brush and banks. The trap may be staked, but it is better to fasten to a clog. Cut a small sapling of such a size that the ring of the chain will just pass over the butt of the sapling. Slip the ring over the clog and fasten it by splitting the butt and drive a wedge in the split, or by driving a staple over the ring. The clog may be placed on the upper side of the brush, used to block the stream, and the top may be tied to the shore, so that it will not be carried away by high water. In very small streams, a narrow passage may be made by simply placing a few stones in either side, leaving a narrow passage in the middle, in which to set the trap.
When you can find a sharp bend in the stream with a trail across the point, set the trap in the water at the end of the trail. Use same care as advised for the other sets.
For spring trapping this method is excellent: if you can find one of the otter’s landing places on the bank, prepare the place for setting in the fall in the following manner. Make a nest for the trap in the center of the trail and fill the nest with grass and leaves. Lay a bunch of dead brush or a chunk of rotten wood on each side of the trail, so as to leave only a narrow passage and cut a clog and lay it in place. The otters seldom visit these places in the fall, so there is no danger of frightening them. In the spring, before the snow is all gone, go and set your trap in the prepared place, covering it with the leaves and grass and attach to the clog, covering the entire setting with a little snow. As the snow melts, it takes with it all of the scent and signs, leaving the trap ready for the first otter that comes along.
If you do not find the landing places until after the snow is gone, set the traps just the same, washing the scent away by sprinkling with water or set the traps in the water where the otter climbs up the bank.
One of the best methods of trapping an otter in winter, after the streams are closed with ice, is as follows: Find a long pool of still water where you are sure the otter will be traveling under the ice, and at either end of this pool, where the water is about ten inches deep. Cut a hole through the ice, make a pen of dead sticks in the water, making the pen about nine inches wide, by twelve or fifteen inches deep. Now take a fish and fasten it to a stick in the back of the pen, and set the trap in the entrance, staking it securely. Drive the stake about ten inches in front of the pen and directly in front of the trap. The object in this is to cause the otter, in entering, to twist his body, in which act, he will put his foot down in the trap. Throw some snow in the hole so it will freeze over. The bait should be renewed once a week. In case you cannot get fish for bait, use the head of a rabbit, the breast of a partridge, or a piece of muskrat. The bait should be skinned.