The Savannah morning news., 1902-06-23
HOW ANIMALS SWIM.
Most Beasts Have Natural Instinct
for Water.
From the Chicago Tribune.


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
movements,
Man in the water emulates the frog,
an entirely different creature, using his
arms as sort of wing to keep him
afioat while effecting progress with
his legs. Since the relative length 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 imme-
diately begin to swim without fur
ther ado, entering the fluid element
with the profoundest confidence,
whether doing so as an incident in
their roaming or as a necessity be-
cause of pursuit.
Swims in Ice Water.
OF all land animals there is no bet
ter swimmer than the polar bear. This
powerful beast of prey stands half
his time in the water, leaving colossal
tracks in his wake. His performance
is particularly remarkable because he
is surrounded by ice cold water, and
cold is the direst enemy to good swim
ming. A peasant whose hut stood
on the shore of an island, one evening
heard a noise on the beach. Peeping
out of the window, he saw a ire
mendous Bruin squatting on the
beach, licking himself dry. He hal
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 a polar
bear pursuing seals, one of his dear
est 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 forward but, as he advances,
he sinks lower and lower. Finally,
only his head is visible, then only his
snout projects, and this gradually dis
appears, 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 low rock, and, before it can
slip into the sheltering sea, pounces
upon it with an effective death blow.
safety Under Water.
If a deer, buffalo, pig or some
other land beast be pursued by boat
in the water he never looks to the wa
ter 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
swimming 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 shrewdly concluded
that he was safer to attempt his theft
by water.
Some of the most awkward as well
F, as the most mastery swimmers belong
to the rodents. The beaver is an ex-
pert, while rats and mice rival the
aquatic skill of their cousins, the wa
ter rats and water mice. Squirrels are
marvelously apt in accustoming them
selves to travel by water. huntsman
who had seen wild squirrels spring in
to some brook and escape to the far
Their shore made an experiment upon
MS own pet squirrel, winch ne knew
had never been near the water.
He took him out in a boat and drop
ped him into lake. AT first the squir-
rel tried to leap out, but rapidly re-
alizing that that could not be done
applied 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 ex-
perience not the slightest Inconvenience
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 anines out Of
the water. Some circus managers take
deer 20 a hight 81 nifty feet, whence
they spring into miniature lake be-
loN and swim 10 the farther side
Everybody knows that the fhinece-
roe ami hiDpop0famus are master
divers sna snimmefH, but everybody
0orf n0f know that elephants oEe their