WILD ANIMALS IN CAPTIVITY 



was swimming and diving about in the water like an adult 

 animal. It uttered a low soft lah, or single call-note, and 

 looked about for its mother, and crawled towards her when 

 she came out of the water. She turned upon her side in 

 order to let it suck, and I had every reason to believe that 

 all was going on well. The young seal slept well, some- 

 times on its belly, sometimes on its side. The mother, 

 however, appeared unwell and in great pain, and on the 

 following day (Wednesday) suddenly plunged into the 

 water and sunk to the bottom. Believing she was dying, 

 I had her assisted out of the pond. She was in strong 

 convulsions, and continued to roll and struggle until the 

 next morning (this day), when she died. She appears to 

 have had no milk. Finding the female unable to suckle 

 her young one, I had it removed to the house, and have 

 fed it by means of a bottle with warm milk, and a small 

 quantity of cod-liver oil added to the milk. 



The statement having been made that the species of seal 

 could be distinguished by the mode of shedding its first 

 coat (I believe it is said that the common seal, P. vitulina, 

 sheds its coat as soon as born, while the P.fcetida sheds its 

 first coat before its birth), I beg to say that this supposed 

 distinction is shown by the above remarks to be of no value 

 whatever as a means of distinguishing the species. I have 

 no doubt both species are alike in this particular ; and I 

 have no doubt, from what I have seen, that the outer fur is 

 sometimes shed before birth and sometimes immediately 

 after birth in both species alike. 



The young seal was 32 in. long, and weighed 20 lbs. at 

 its birth. 



It appears to me that the young animal shedding its 

 outer covering compensates for the absence of the licking 

 generally bestowed upon young animals by their mother. 

 The seals never lick. 



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