Mijbil the Otter

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Gavin Maxwell is the author. He lives in a cottage in Camusfearna, in the West Highlands of Scotland. After his dog Jonnie died, he felt too sad to keep another dog but found life without a pet lonely…

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'A stone's throw' means a very short distance. Maxwell describes Camusfearna as 'ringed by water a stone's throw from its door,' meaning water was very close to his cottage, making it suitable for kee…

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After his dog Jonnie died, Maxwell was too sad to think of keeping another dog. He thought an otter would be suitable because his cottage at Camusfearna was surrounded by water, making it an ideal env…

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Maxwell's friend told him that otters are found in the Tigris marshes near Basra, Iraq, where they are 'as common as mosquitoes' and are often tamed by the Arabs.

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Maxwell faced several problems: his mail hadn't arrived while his friend's had, he had to book telephone calls 24 hours in advance, the phone line was out of order on the first day, the exchange was c…

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When Maxwell's mail finally arrived, he found two Arabs squatting on his bedroom floor with a sack that squirmed. They handed him a note from his friend saying 'Here is your otter...' The otter was de…

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Mijbil resembled 'a very small, medievally conceived dragon.' He was coated with symmetrical pointed scales of mud armor from head to tail tip. Between the mud tips was visible soft velvet fur like th…

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The scientific name is 'Lutrogale perspicillata maxwelli' or 'Maxwell's otter.' It is significant because Mijbil was of a race previously unknown to science, so zoologists named this new species after…