Maxwell gets the otter in Basra, as a gift from a friend. Two Arabs deliver it to his hotel in a sack that occasionally squirmed, and one of them hands it to him, saying, “Here is your otter.”

Yes, he likes it immediately. He describes it with fascination and admiration, showing his deep affection from the beginning. This is evident from phrases like:

• "An otter fixation had taken hold of me."
• "It was a cross between a chocolate-brown mud and a creature that is pointed in both ends."