WEAPONS OF ANIMALS 131 



twelve or fifteen inches, and have even been known 

 to attain to a length of thirty-one inches inclusive 

 of the portion embedded in the socket. Those of 

 the young walrus do not develop until the animal 

 is about two years old, and diu-ing that period the 

 infant is nursed by its mother, who frequently gives 

 it a ride upon her back. 



The only natural enemies that the walrus has to 

 contend against are the polar bears and the kiUer- 

 whales ; but mankind in his quest of the ivory, 

 skin and oil that it yields, has hunted the animal 

 so mercUessly that it has ceased to exist in many 

 parts where it was once plentiful. Although the 

 ivory obtained from the tusks is of an inferior 

 quaHty to that procured from the elephant, yet the 

 skin, which may be as much as one and a half 

 inches in thickness, is very valuable and utilised for 

 the purpose of making boot-soles and harness. 



Found in the northern seas amidst the ice-bound 

 regions, walruses associate in large herds, congre- 

 gating upon the ice-floes in close fellowship with one 

 another. They feed upon clams and other kinds of 

 sheU-fish — more especially those known as gapers — ■ 

 star-fish, sea-urchins and sand worms. They also 

 swallow a certain amount of seaweed which, in 

 all probability, gets conveyed down their throats 

 involuntarily, and is not specially selected as an 

 item of their diet. When searching for their food 

 the animals employ their tusks as rakes, and when 

 landing upon the shore or ice-floes they will also 

 make use of them as grappling-irons. 



Walruses are not often seen in captivity, and the 



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