In the wild there is no safety. The otter cub Tarka grows up with his mother & sisters learning to swim catch fish
- & to fear the cry of the hunter & the flash of the metal trap. Soon he must fend for himself travelling through rivers woods moors ponds & out to sea sometimes with the female otters White-tip & Greymuzzle always on the run. Eventually chased by a pack of hounds he meets his nemesis the fearsome dog Deadlock & must fight for his life.