I CANNOT remember when I last saw an otter in the wild. Certainly I was privileged to see several when I was a child, but that was more than 60 years ago and since I became an adult such sightings have become increasingly rare.

Those childhood sightings were the result of my explorations along the banks of the river near my home in Yorkshire's Eskdale. I knew the location of the local otter holts and would sit for hours in the hope of catching sight of one of these shy creatures - and I was often rewarded.

The tell-tale sign of an otter's presence in the water was often the V-shaped water disturbance in its wake, usually with just the head showing above the surface.

On shore, evidence of its presence might come from its droppings, footprints in the mud or a wonderful otters' mud slide!

During my childhood otter forays, I was never aware of this animal being either scarce or in danger of extinction; indeed, we had a pack of otter hounds in the village and otter hunting was a feature of riverside life at that time.

Clearly, one cannot hunt otters if there is none to be found and furthermore it must be said that the otter hunt personnel were largely responsible for maintaining the otters' quiet riverside environment.

Just as fox hunting helps to conserve the fox population, so the otter hunts of the past helped to maintain otter numbers. Despite their efforts, however, otter numbers were clearly in decline by the Fifties.

By the late Sixties and early Seventies there was increasing concern about their rapidly dwindling numbers, not only in this region but throughout the country.

One problem was the difficulty in establishing accurate figures due to the otter's shyness, its mainly nocturnal lifestyle and its ability to remain out of sight when humans were nearby.

Various interested organisations and parties did their best to establish a realistic estimate of the number of otters and also to conduct surveys which registered the rate of their decline.

One thing which emerged was that hunting was not responsible for their decline. There were many other factors. Increasingly heavy river pollution was a known enemy of the otter because it destroyed its food supply and habitat, and destruction of its safe environment was another.

The latter came about through the increased use of our waterways for leisure purposes, not only by having boats and water sports on quiet rivers, but also the growing practice of enjoying picnics and rambles along the river banks. Otters prefer the quiet life.

Nonetheless, the anti-blood sport fraternity targeted otter hunts with their usual venom and disinformation, blaming them for the otters' decline, so, in 1977, the Masters of Otterhounds Association established a policy for their members.

It said that the hounds should withdraw if there was danger of an otter being killed; no otters should be killed except at the request of the riparian owners when the otters were inflicting proven damage.

No hunting should take place on a river which does not afford the otter an opportunity to escape and maximum care should be taken to preserve breeding sites.

There should be no risk to the breeding of otters, and there should be limitations on the numbers of hounds and terriers used in a hunt.

The association also pointed out that otter hounds did a further service in that they controlled numbers of coypu and mink, which were then becoming a dangerous nuisance to our waterways.

They caused damage to the river banks and to wildlife along the river and, as it was pointed out, owners of otter hounds were among the very few people who actually knew the numbers and locations of the resident otter population.

Otter hunts were a tradition going back more than 800 years but, in 1978, the killing of otters ceased when the otter was added to the list of animals protected by law - the Wild Creatures and Wild Plants Act of 1975 was amended to add the otter to its list of protected species.

Afterwards, though, the decline of the otter continued to such an extent that it was feared it would become extinct.

The end of hunting had done nothing to protect the otter - other factors were still at work, such as more pollution and the increased use of rivers for recreational purposes, although some otter hunts did continue to work the rivers, now seeking mink and coypu.

The decline continued until 1988 when attempts were made to re-stock rivers with otters reared in captivity. The first experiment took place in Dorset and similar experiments continued elsewhere, with safe havens being established along our rivers with the co-operation of landowners, anglers and local naturalists.

Now, with less pollution and more awareness of environmental care, it is claimed that in some areas otter numbers have increased five-fold since 1988, with otters again being part of our rural scene. But, even now, you might have difficulty spotting one!

Otters, as we know, are superb catchers of fish and this week I was chatting to the head keeper of a local estate when the subject of angling arose.

He dazzled me with his knowledge of rural life and the ways of the wild, and his expertise included angling and the habits of fish.

During our chat, he mentioned the following verse: "When the wind is in the east, the fish bite least; When the wind is in the west, the fish bite best."

I know this is a piece of ancient weather lore and questioned its accuracy, but he assured me it is true.

One should never go fishing when there is an east wind blowing, he advised, and this prompted me to wonder how the fish in our rivers know the direction of the wind!

The truth is, of course, this phenomenon is more to do with the habits of insects, for it is they who recognise the weather variations and atmospheric pressures and act accordingly. With no flies flitting above the surface of the water, the fish will not rise to take them.

I have come across some more verses in this mould. One says: "When the wind is in the north, the skilful fisher goes not forth," and another adds: "Fishermen in anger froth when the wind is in the north."

It seems, therefore, that both northerly and easterly winds are renowned for keeping the fish safe in their rivers and, although the above verse suggests it's a good idea to go fishing when a westerly wind is blowing, the same can also be said of a southerly wind. Indeed it is said: "When the wind's in the south, the fish come with open mouth."

In addition to these sayings, there are others concerning fish and their ability to forecast bad weather. One fairly common belief is that when fish bite readily and swim near the surface, rain can be expected, although they become very inactive immediately before a thunderstorm.

If any other storm is approaching, however, fish will rise more than usual although trout, it seems, are noted for refusing to take the bait or rise to a fly when a storm is near.

Pike will lie motionless on the bed of the river or pond if rain or wind is approaching, while in Canada it seems salmon and trout will be plentiful in a river if there has been a lot of rain in the nearby countryside.

None of this is associated with sea fish, however, for it seems they have their own extensive weather lore, although the sight of porpoises in a harbour is said to indicate a coming storm.

I believe it is widely accepted that porpoises will regularly head for safety in a bay or harbour ahead of an approaching storm and another belief is that they will swim in the direction from which the wind is coming. In some areas, that is regarded as a reliable sign that a storm is brewing.

And finally - when compiling this weekly budget, I rely heavily upon my library of reference books and newspaper cuttings and this week, while checking on some facts about foxes, I came upon the photograph of a young fox.

It showed the animal in all its beauty, but the caption was important.

It said: "Were it not protected by the hunting people, the fox would probably have been exterminated long ago."

That book was published in 1948, but that note should not go unheeded. If and when fox hunting is banned, will it lead to the eventual extermination of this pest? Such extinction almost happened to the otter.