Contents Include: Short Sketch of My Life Otter Hunting at Bellingham Otters in Unusual Places Otter Hunting on the North Tyne Otter Hunting: North Tyne and Reed water Otter Hunting on the Tyne An Otter Hunt on the River Reed A Triumph for Bugle Mr. John Gallon Otter Hunting with John Gallon Otter Hunting on the Liddel A Remarkable Hunt Otter Hunting on the Coquet Other Hunters I Have Met The Otter Hound Bugle Hesleyside Fox Covers The Glorious Chase Bonny North Tyne The Streams of the West The Fox Hound Wellington Jarrow fountain

Includes description of islands and inhabitants.

Although rarely seen in the wild, the otter is admired for its playful character and graceful aquatic agility, fixed in the popular imagination through books and films such as Tarka the Otter and Ring of Bright Water. This is just a small part of its story, however: throughout history, the otter has been hunted for its fur and to prevent it from killing fish. Featuring numerous images from nature and culture, as well as examples from folklore, sports, and literature, this wide-ranging book also explores the movement against otter hunting, and the ongoing efforts promoting otter conservation. A fittingly lively study of its subject, Otter offers a new way of thinking about this much-loved but endangered animal.

2019 Choice Outstanding Academic Title More than any other nonhuman species, it was the sea otter that defined the world’s largest oceanscape prior to the California gold rush. In addition to the more conventional aspects of the sea otter trade, including Russian expansion in Alaska, British and American trading in the Pacific Northwest, and Spanish colonial ventures along the California coast, the global importance of the species can be seen in its impact on the East Asian maritime fur trade. This trade linked Imperial China, Japan, and indigenous Ainu peoples of the Kurile Islands as early as the fifteenth century. In Sea Otters: A History Richard Ravalli synthesizes anew the sea otter’s complex history of interaction with humans by drawing on new histories of the species that consider international and global factors beyond the fur trade, including sea mammal conservation, Cold War nuclear testing, and environmental tourism. Examining sea otters in a Pacific World context, Ravalli weaves together the story of imperial ambition, greed, and an iconic sea mammal that left a determinative imprint on the modern world.