St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1904-11-26
ANIMALS GOOD SWIMMERS.
Even Some Of the Most Ungainly Ars
Strong and Graceful in
the Water.

In spite Of the fact that man is MT
an instructive swimmer, as are most OF
the lower animals, he excels all of the
| latter that are not aquatic in endur-
ance In the water. It is reported that,
In attempting to swim across the Eng
lish channel recently, man covered
80 miles before he succumbed to ex-
haustion. The only land animals tina.
are known to be able to approximate
such a feat are bears. writes J. Herbert
WEIGH. In Success. which are probably
the strongest swimmers among ami
mails not specially adapted by nature
for the water. f..
Deer and horses rank next to bears
IN swimming powers Deer swim rap
idly and gracefully, and it is mot un-
common for them to cover a distance
OF ten or even Is miles in the water.
Horses are powerful swimmers. and
have none Of the aversion toward en-
tering the water which is often shown
even by animals which can swim we'll
when forced to. A number of horses
that were pastured on the American
side of the Niagara river once swan in
company across this broad stream in
order to return to their old stables. It
may be useful to know that, IN cross
ing body Of water with horse, the
best method, If the horse is expected
to swim any considerable distance, is
to slide over his back. hold the animal
lightly by the tai, and allow it to tow
you across. This relieves the horse
OF the weight Of your body, and eua-
bles him to swim faster and much
farther than otherwise would be the
case.
Dogs vary greatly in ability as
swimmers. The water spaniel. re.riev-
er, mastiff and St. Bernard excel all
others. A retriever known to the
writer once followed canoe for nine
miles. The dog was much exhausted.
however. when drawn into the boat
The elephant is a good swimmer.
and the wild animals of the cat fam
lily, the tiger, the panther, the jaguar.
and others do not hesitate to cross
lakes and rivers. On the other hand,
the domestic cat shrinks from INNER
sion, and browns quickly. The nostrils
Of some small animals are so placed a.
to render breathing very difficult when
they are in the water. Among these
are mice and rabbits, which will
drown without sinking beneath the
surface. Rats are excellent swimmers
Almost all birds except those which
are distinctly natatorfal are nearly
helpless in water. Small birds, in par
ticular. have no power Of propulsion,
md. though they do not sink. they
brown quickly. Even many srecies n
waterfowl rise from the water with
,iffculty. or not at all, when their
wings are wet. After a sea gull
,lunges and returns to the surface It
stretches its wings so that they NAV
,e dried bv the wind and sun before 1t
to fly. +....-,.-
All rentiles swim. Almost all snakes
move through the water with as much
ase and rapidity as on land. Rattle
makes. for example. are much given
o swimming in placid water If It Ia
lot too cold. In the Everglade lakes
4 Florida they may be often seen. II
; well to know that to attack from a
oat a poisonous snake in the water Is
much more dangerous proceeding
han to attack the spa''e on land. The
eason Is that the rentile will immed'.
telv make for the boat. since It mus,
ave solid base from which to strife
/ half leaps and half climbs into the
raft. and there Is Eight at uncom.
ortably close quarters