SWIMMERS CONCLUDED 



is left when he has finished. I know of no other 

 creature of similar size capable of eating so much 

 in a given time, or of spending so much time in 

 eating. 



It has always seemed to me that, in his own 

 quiet way, the muskrat enjoys existence as largely 

 as any animal in nature. It is true he lacks the 

 excitement of the chase, which forms so large a 

 part of the lives of the fox, weasel, and cat tribes ; 

 but then he almost never suffers from hunger, 

 and any one who has ever watched him enjoying a 

 swim is bound to envy him ever after. 



One would suppose that where he is in the way 

 of swimming for every meal he takes, and almost 

 everywhere he goes, he might get a little bored 

 at it and look upon it as work. But it is the com- 

 monest thing in the world to see them in hot 

 weather rolling over and over in deep water, and 

 floating lazily about, as if the opportunity only 

 offered once in a life- time. 



All summer long they swim and wade and 

 157 



