Completed December 5, 2018: a long day spent mostly futzing with whiskers. After replacing a full set of horsehair (which turned into straight bristles as soon as it was short enough to be proportionate to the figure) and about a third of a set of goat hair (too soft, and way too fiddly to sew into place), fine silk thread (rescued from a defunct necktie company and coated with cobbler’s wax) seemed satisfactory.

This fine feisty lady otter already has a home, but you can write to the Salamander if you’d like to discuss the creation of someone similar for yourself.