The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1902-09-20
HOW THE ANIMALS SWIM

The leading distinction between a
beast and a man when swimming is
the fact that the beast fearlessly pro-
ceeds as best he may, after the same
methods he used on land, while the
man adopts hundred maneuvers
which are novel to his continental
movements.
Man in the water emulates the
frog, an entirely different creature,
using his arms as sort of wing to
keep him afloat while effecting prog
ress with his legs. Since the relative
lengths of his limbs differ from those
of his illustrious example, he never
succeeds in attaining its perfection in
swimming.
When animals enter the water they
propel themselves precisely as they
do on the land, except with greater
force hence they become not only
expert travellers by sea but also ex-
cellent transports for heavy burdens.
When they approach deep water they
Immediately begin to swim without
further ado, entering the fluid element
with the profoundest confidence,
whether doing so as an incident in
their roaming or as necessity because
of pursuit.
Of all land animals there is no bet
ter swimmer than the polar bear.
This powerful beast of prey spends
half his time in the water, leaving
collosa1 tracks in his wake. His per-
Torrance is particularly remarkable
because he is surrounded by water,
and cold is the direst enemy to good
swimming. A peasant, whose hut
stood on the shore of an island, one
evening heard a noise up the beach.
Peeping out of the window, he saw
a tremendous Bruin squatting on the
beach, licking himself dry. He had
just stepped out of the water, and
must have travelled at least twenty
five miles from the nearest ice-pack,
without moments rest.
1t is fascinating to watch polar
bear pursuing seals, one Of his dear
est table delicacies. Perceiving the
seals some distance away on the
rocks, he takes circuitous route by
water to reach them. At first he
plunges boldly forward, but, as he
advances he sinks lower and lower.
Finally, only his head is visible, then
only his snout projects, and this grad
ually disappears, as the vast beast
dives quite beneath the waves a few
yards from the victim. A few min
utes later he darts out at the side Of
the seal, as it basks on a low rock,
and, before it can slip into the shell
tering sea, pounces upon it with an
effective death blow.
I If a deer, buffalo, pig, or some
other land beast be pursued by boat
in the water he never looks to the
water for his salvation but only tries
to move the faster. Aquatic fowls,
on the contrary, and all animals in
ured to water life duck their heads or
make themselve less conspicuous by
sinking the whole body gradually be-
meath the surface.
One of the most fearless swimmers
is the maten. A man once noticed
one of these clever little creatures
swimming across a small stream with
a pigeon in his mouth out toward the
wood on the other side. He could
have had easy access by land to the
pigeon cote, but doubtless shrewdly
concluded that he was safer to at
tempt his theft by water.
Some of the most awkward as we'll
as the most mastery of swimmers be-
long to the rodents. The beaver is
an expert, while rats and mice rival
the aquatic skill of their cousins, the
water rats and water mice. Squirrels
are marvelously apt in accustoming
themselves to travel by water. A
huntsman who had seen wild squir-
rels spring into some brook and es-
cape to the farther shore made an ex-
pertinent upon his own pet squirrel,
which he knew had never been near
the water.
He took him out in boat and drop
ped him into lake. At first the
squirrel tried to leap out, but rapidly
realizing that could not be done ap-
piled himself with such velocity to
swimming that his master had diff
Guilty in catching him. AS he swan
he stood head and shoulders above the
surface, while his back and tail were
sunk deep beneath the water.
All ruminants, with the exception
of the camel, and possibly the wild
sheep, are excellent swimmers and
show no hesitation in entering the
water.
Elks are half aquatic animals who
experience not the slightest incon-
venience in managing a journey by
water. They hold their heads up
loftily, making an imposing spectacle
as they advance.
Reindeer are good swimmers and
raise just the head above the water.
Deer when swimming hold their
heads and part of their spines out Of
the water. Some circus managers
take deer to a height of fifty feet,
whence they spring into miniature
lake below and swim to the farther
side.
Everybody knows that the rhi-
noceros and hippopotamus are master
divers and swimmers, but everybody
does not know that elephants are their
rivals for aquatic honors. In India
elephants often for a month at time
spend their days in swimming from
one side of the river to the other, car
rying heavy burdens as they go. Of
ten they remain in the water uninter-
ruptedly for sixteen hours or more,
always with weight on their backs.
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