The Savannah morning news., 1904-06-25

swimmers, but there are some small
mammals that have as great dread of
water as they have of fire. among them
the American squirrel. This little ami
NAL, like the mouse, can swim only a
few yards. when 1t browns, the car
cass remaining afoat long after death.
Probably they would live a consider
able time If they remained motionless
and simply floated, but it Is a remark
able fact that all animals except man
and monkeys strike out and naturally
go through the motions of swimming
Monkeys cannot swim and have q
great dread of water. If they drop
accidentally into a river, which they
sometimes do when squabblng among
themselves or when they are pursued
by an enemy, they seldom succeed in
struggling out, but are speedily
drowned.
Birds Drown Rapidly.
One would expect that the light bod
les of birds, with their bones full of air
cells, would be admirably adapted to
keep ahoat. Such is not the case, how
ever.
Birds drown more rapidly than most
other animals that can swim at all.
When they fall into the water most
species are submerged with the excep-
tion of the head and a very small part
of the neck. They at once strike out
with their legs, but never use their
wings, swimming in an aimless fash
ion or often involuntarily making a
great circuit. They die in few min
utes, which is the more remarkable as
the head seems to be kept above water
to the last. and l am inclined to think
that they die rather from the shock
than from actual drowning.
With regard to natatorial birds, these
swim and dive well, even after being
severely wounded. but there are many
water fowl which do not dive, which
either rise from the water with great
difficulty or cannot rise at ALL If the
whole of their feathers are wetted.
AS / find that the young of animals
which are good swimmers Gas the dog,
juguar and even the ottor) have no no.
ton of swimming until they attain a
certain age and have had some expert
ence, my own opinion is that their
powers are not merely instructive, and
/ am disposed to place them on the
same footing as human beings.
Man Has Great Powers.
Human beings have greater swim
ming powers that most of the lower
animals but few individuals develop
those powers. Indeed ii is more than
probable that not one man in fifty can
swim at ALL simply because he has
never learned or lacks the nerve to
act right when he Unexpectedly finds
himself in the water. Recently a man,
in endeavorins to swim across the Eng
fish Channel. is said to have swum a
distance of thirty miles.
The only land animal I have seen
swim a distance nearly as great as this
was an American black bear, but Amer
lean deer sometimes swim a distance
of twelve or fourteen miles at a stretch
The Russian retriever alluded to above
once followed a canoe for nine miles,
but he was much exhausted at the
end of that distance. A friend who is
fond of coursing says that hares are
found on islets on the Essex coast
which are miles from shore, and
have known rats In America swim
across rivers which were a mile and
a quarter to two miles wide, but I'M
fortunately, / have only such trivial
records of the distances animals
can swim. A systematic table Of
their powers in this respect would
be of great value 10 the naturalist.