CHAPTER X 
SWIMMING AND WALKING 
SWIMMING 
It is of course in the water that the beaver is most at home, 
and naturally with the structure and aquatic habits of the 
animal, it is a far better swimmer than walker. It swims 
easily at or beneath the surface, usually at a rather slow or 
moderate speed, using its hind feet for propulsion, for 
which their size and webbed structure are admirably 
adapted. Bailey says that when alarmed beavers can 
swim under water as fast as an otter or a seal, while Seton 
thinks they rarely swim faster than two miles an hour. 
Bailey says that the tail is effectively used as a propeller 
when speed is desired. 
Dugmore says that in swimming the hind feet are used, 
and to a very limited extent the tail, chiefly for sudden 
starts or turns. In this it differs from the muskrat, which 
swims chiefly with its tail, which it uses as a scull. In 
comparing beavers and muskrats Shiras says ‘‘Unlike the 
muskrat, with its body well out of water, the beaver swims 
nearly submerged, with only the head showing. At a 
distance it is sometimes hard to tell one from the other when 
swimming, except by the greater speed and wake of the 
beaver.” 
Dugmore says that upon the speed at which the animal is 
going depends the amount of the back which is visible. 
He says that he has never been able to make absolutely 
sure that the tail is employed as a propeller, except for a 
few strokes on a sudden burst of speed. 
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