SWIMMING AND WALKING 141 
the animal always moving so quietly under water that it 
made no surface disturbance. | 
This floating quietly is something which the beaver seems 
fond of doing. The animal rests easily with the upper part 
of the head and back out of water, and the tail on the sur- 
face. Sometimes it appears to be done for purposes of obser- 
vation, at other times the animal seems to be resting, or 
perhaps loafing. 
Sheldon, in ““The Wilderness of the Upper Yukon,” says 
he twice saw beavers dive when they were unsuspicious, 
and in both cases they slapped their tails. Selous men- 
tions two instances of beavers on the bank which were not 
alarmed by the tail slaps of others, even when close-by. 
Sheldon thinks some other interpretation of the habit than 
an alarm must be attempted, that perhaps it is a muscular 
contraction to assist in sudden diving. 
A somewhat similar use of the tail is that of thumping the 
ground with it when a tree is about to fall, as a supposed 
signal to the other beavers around to look out. As stated 
elsewhere there is a difference of opinion about this. 
WALKING 
Walking is far from being one of the beaver’s strong points. 
On the contrary it is a method of progression for which its 
build does not adapt it, therefore its walk is decidedly 
awkward, at times very much like a waddle as it moves 
about over the ground on its various errands, cutting trees, 
or gathering bushes for food. Quite different is the ease 
with which it moves in the water, its real native element. 
For a faster gait a beaver uses a clumsy lope or gallop, 
not very fast, for it is said that a man can easily outrun an 
adult, and any of its four-footed enemies could do so without 
_ trouble. I once had a rather amusing experience with a 
beaver, though it was in the water instead of onland. The 
