Animals in the Wild [ 139 



notably tame and friendly with humans, and has a strong sense 

 of curiosity. 



WALRUSES TIMID GIANTS 



Most children will look forward eagerly to seeing a walrus 

 in the flesh if they are familiar with Tweedledee's nonsensical 

 recitation about the Walrus and the Carpenter in Through the 

 Looking-Glass. Everyone knows the famous passage in which the 

 Walrus pompously declaims: 



"The time has come" the Walrus said, 



To talk of many things: 

 Of shoes and ships and sealing-wax 



Of cabbages and kings 

 And why the sea is boiling hot 



And whether pigs have wings." 



The walrus is a mighty creature often weighing a ton or more 

 and reaching a length of about ten feet. Its name is derived from 

 the Scandinavian for "whale horse," an allusion to its size and 

 the fact that it lives both on the land and in the sea. The walrus 

 gives no lively performance as seals do; its appearance is a show 

 in itself. The bristly whiskers and the male's fantastically elongated 

 upper canine teeththey sometimes reach a length of thirty 

 inches! enhance the formidable impression made by the walrus. 



For all their size and power, walruses are rather timid and try 

 to avoid trouble. They live in herds, and if one member is 

 attacked, all the rest rush to its defense. They can fight fiercely 

 if they have to, making good use of their tusks, and a mother never 

 hesitates to show fight if an enemy approaches her "baby." The 

 walrus has an unearthly bellow that is in keeping with its appear- 

 ance. 



BATS AND NATURE'S RADAR SYSTEM 



Each season half a million people visit Carlsbad Caverns 

 in New Mexico. They are almost as interested in the bats they 

 may see there as in the cave itself. Each afternoon hordes of the 

 flying mammals come out, literally darkening the sky as they set 

 out in quest of food. It is estimated that there are millions of bats 



