The suburban citizen., 1902-08-02
HOW THE ANIMALS SWIM
MOST BEASTS HAVE A NATURAL
INSTINCT FOR WATER.


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 a hundred maneuvers which
are novel to his continental move.
ments.
Man IN the water emulates the frog,
an entirely different creature, using his
arms as a sort Of wing to Keep him
afloat while effecting progress with
his legs. Since the relative lengths of
his limbs differ from those of his illus
triOus 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 excellent
transports for heavy burdens. When
they approach deep water they i'm
mediately 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 a necessity because
of pursuit.
OF all land animals there is no better
swimmer than the polar bear. This
powerful beast Of prey spends half his
time in the water, leaving collosal
tracks in his wake. His performance
is particularly remarkable because he
Is surrounded by ice-water, and cold is
the direst enemy to good swimming. A
peasant, whose hut stood on the shore
of an island, one evening heard noise
on the beach. Peeping out of the win
dow, he saw a tremendous Bruin squat
ting 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 a moments rest.
1t is fascinating to watch polar bear
pursuing seals, one Of his dearest table
delicacies. Perceiving the seals some
distance away on the rocks, he takes
a circuitous route by water to reach
them. At first he plunges boldly for
ward, but as he advances he sinks
lower and lower. Finally, only his
head is visible, then only his snout
projects, and this gradually disappears,
as the vast beast dives quite beneath
the waves a few yards from the victim.
A few minutes later he darts out at the
side of the SEAL as it basks on a low
rock, and, before it can slip into the
sheltering sea, pounces upon it with an
effective death blow.
If a deer, a buffalo, pig, or some
other land beast be pursued by a 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 Injured to
water life duck their heads or make
themselves less conspicuous by sinking
the whole body gradually beneath the
surface.
One of the most fearless swimmers is
the marten. A man once noticed one
of these clever little creatures swim
ming across a small lake 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 shrewedly concluded that
he was safer to attempt his theft by
water
Some of the most awkward as well
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 them
selves to travel by water. A huntsman
who had seen wild squirrels spring in
to some brook and escape to the farther
shore made an experiment upon his
own pet squirrel, which he knew had
never been near the water.
He took him out in boat and dropped
him into a lake. At first the squirrel
tried to leap out, but rapidly realizing
that that could not be done applied
himself with such velocity to swim
ming that his master had difficulty 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 loft
lily, 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 height Of fifty feet, whence
they spring into a miniature lake be-
low and swim to the farther side.
Everybody knows that the rhin.
oceros 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 a time