, 1884-11-18
THE FOES OF FISH.
Some Recent Inquiries By the United
States Fish oommiasion.
A Fish-Devourinz Aquane Plant
Destruction or Young Carp by
snakes-rhe aEnskraf,s Bfi.-
doinEs-aniskIi@e.


The recsntly issued bukfetlns OF tho United
States hsh commission contain much lntsrost-
ing matter concerning tho habifs OF hsn and
Of the enemies OF fish a paper BY G. +.
Eimms, Jr, describes a novel and unexpected
enemy to the pisciculturist, discovered among
tho weeds in bis aquarium, in the shape OF n
fsh-sating plant MY attention was irst
drawn 70 IT," Mr.. Siinms says, Aby observing
that several OF the tiny 1sh, without any APP
parent cause, were lying dead on the weeds,
while the rest OF the brood looked perfectly
healthy and In good condition At first /
was somewhat puzzled at the strangs position
In which they were lying, and in trying TO
move ono with q small twie, I was still more
surprised 70 find It was held fast by the
head, in what I thought, when 1 pulled the
plant from the water. were the seed vessels;
and o still closer examination revealed the
strange fact that others OF tho little fish had
been trapped by tho tail, and In one or two
Instances the head and tall OF the same fish
bad been swallowed by adjacent b~ladders,
thus forming with It's body a connecting bar
between the two.
This IS IA plant known TO botanists As dri-
caiaria vulgariA A peculiar tact In conneo-
ton with lt "a that IL has no roots at any
timo OF Its life, and the floating, root-liks
branches which arc covered with numerous
capillary AMI much divided leaves aro intor-
sperSed with tiny green vescicles, which were
supposed by a former school OF botanists to
b. filed with wnter. BY which means the
plant wns kept at tho bottom until the time
Of towering, when the winter gave place 10
air, and the plant then rose TO the surface
10 allow It's bloom 10 expand. AZ n matter
81 fact these vesicles exercised no such func-
lions, their roll work bslng TO entrap minute
crustaceans, worms. larvB, etc, for is sup
port, and without u good supply OF which IL
Is impossible to keep It alive in an aquarium.
Snakes and muskrats appear to be chief
among the enemies Of the carp. Reports
made by Rud Heasel, superintendent OF the
United States carp ponds, during August
and September, 1888, arr quoted to show the
destruction Of young carp By snaksA In
this report Mr.. Hessei sayz; aDuring the
past TOW days. great many snakes have APP
pearsd at the ponds, many Of which have
been killed. as man rs Gil snakes being
killed In one week. In. the smaller snakes 1
found from nino 10 fifteen young carp, and
In tho larger ones sometimes over twenty
ive, bosides undigested skeietons Of Ash
They contained no frog or tadpoles- We
can. therefore, seo that ono medium-sissd
snake dsvours forty young carp per day, for
they digest very quickly. That would
make for 225 snakes 1000 carp per day,
and 5000 per week. That number Is
correct, and 1t shows that makes arc more In
turious than cranas herons, and othsr birdsl
l kill them By shooting. sometimes only
seeing a small part of the head In the water,
or hiding beneath water plants have had
opportunity % SEQ how they catch thu young
nah, and how they dsvour them. An old
wall constitutes their best hiding place. l
often shoot them sitting In the cracks Of tho
old wall, the head looking outside, watching
the poor little fishes"
49,. - n ~ H. n.-f-- - tnrn--
Muduat &c a Fish eater aays. AT a msot-
ing OF the Biological society Of Washington,
held In the National museum Dec. IA, 1888,
Mr.. Henry w Elliott spoke Of the 'Appetite
Of tho Muskrat' He stated that In certain
parts OF Ohio the muskrat did great injury
10 carp ponds, not only by perforating the
banks aud dams and thus letting of the
water, but also by actually capturing and
devouring tho carp, which Is = sluggish ash,
oftnu remaining m~otionlssA half buried In
tho mud" In the discussion that followed
DR.. Mason Graham EllEsy sAid that from
boyhood no had been familiar with the fact
that the muskrats sometimes eat fab. In
fact, no had seon musrrsts In the act Of do
~vouring fish that been recently caught and
left upon tho bank The president, DR..
Charles A Whits. narrated q similar expert
enca.
On Feb. 2, 1884, 1 brought this subject 20
the notice OF tho Linnnnn society Of New
York. and asked II any Of the msmbers knew
the muakrRt to be q naheAter. DR.. Edgar
A Mearns said that ho had long been IA
miliar with the fact, and that IL was no I'M
common thing 10 SO a muskrAt munehing a
dead 1ah upon the borders OF the soft
marshes along the Hudson. He had shot
them while so engaged.
In a lettsr dated Charlottesville, Va,
March IS. 1884. Mr.. r. T. W. Dukes writssi
"On Saturday evening l caught with a hook,
a carp. which would weigh about four
pounds l put 1t In my bath tub allied with
water. Yesterday, about . O'Clock q. m, !
put tho carp in n mail box, surrounded il
with wet moss, and forwarded IL 70 Lynch
burg by express IL reachad thsre about 4
p. M, and ] learn this morning from my
friend 10 whom IL was sent that when takan
out and placed In a tub It was a. lively a.
could 10. We ate a mail carp Sunday mora.
ing and thought ID very good"
Tho method frequently adopted by fab
cultnrists TO destroy noxious fshss Is to In
troduce quiohlims into the pond This for q
time oxerts q very destructive infiusncs, but
before long becomes inert BY hlaking and
forming a harmless combination II the
water Is drawn OF altar lining, Of courns Il
would DO very much better, and At the end
Of q week carp or any other nnh could be In
hoducsd. Or. Rud. Hssssl, superintendent
Of the carp ponds, said, Nov. 2A, 1883: @Some
forty esln have been killed during the last
eight days in the east pond, and thsre are
still more. One barrel Of lime 10 required 70
orterminAte them-"