News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1884-08-28
ENEMIES OF THE TROUT.
HOW THOUSANDS OF FISH ARE DE-
STROYED.IN THE STREAM
The Destructive Work of the Heron htna-
fisher, Wild Duck, Water Snake ana the
Swapping Turtle.


emies of trout in shape ofanimals, birds,
and reptiles have done and are dong
more to depopulate the streams by con
slant and tireless preying on the hSh
than the fishermen, either by fair or toQi
means, can do the year through would
become generally known and means OF
protecting the fish from their inroadS
would be adopted. If Caledonia Greek,
running through thickly settled local.
ity, with several mills and pisciculturu
establishments situated at intervals
along its course, is made the daily fish
ing place of the numerous enemies OF
trout, the streams in isolated regions,
where these depredators are undisturbed
by watchful keepers, must be subject to
still more destructive raids. 1t may be
that the Caledonia Greek fishing grounds,
owing to their peculiar advantages, are
better stocked with the favOrite food OF
the blue heron, k1ngfsher, wild duck,
hawk, snake and turtle, but an hours
watching by the side of any other trout
stream will, beyond doubt, reward the
watcher with the sight within that time
of one or more of these trout destroyers
fishing along its borders and fishing with
unvarying success. The writer, hidden
behind a tree along the Beaver Mill
Creek, in Sullivan county, saw a mink,
a kingfsher and water pilot all watch
ing for trout within distance OF 100
feet, and each fisher secured fine trout
for its dinner.
A keeper patrols Caledonia Creek.day
and night watching for these enen les OF
the trout. No less than 80 blue or night
herons, some of them measuring seven
feet from tip to tip of their wings, have
been killed while fishing in the creek
this season. These birds, like the snap
ping turtle, take only the largest fish.
They stand silently on the border OF the
stream, at this time of the year at the
foot of some deep pool, where the water
begins to take rapid flow. Poised on
one long, slender leg, the other being
drawn up well under the body, the her
on, immovable as if it were cut from
stone, waits patiently the passing OF
some lusty trout up into the pool. The
wait is seldom a long one. Suddenly
the long neck shoots out like an arrow
and the great bill is buried for an instant
in the water. The aim is rarely at fault,
and when the heron's head appears again
large trout comes up with it, and the
bird rises lazilY from the creek and flies
away, trailing its legs far behind it.
Later in the season, when the trout con-
gregate where small spring runs empty
into the stream, the heron will be found
fishing there, as it seems to know well,
like the kingfsher, all the habits of the
fish it loves to feed on. One blue heron,
given free scope in trout stream, would
take from it on a reasonable average,
200 trout, all full grown, and many Of
them filled with eggs, during the time
the bird fishes. which is from the time
the ice leaves the streams in the spring
until it forms again in the fall or win
ter. The heron is solitary bird, but
they seek the solitude of trout haunts in
large numbers and, undisturbed, draw
on the resources of the streams, as may
be seen by what one can do alone, to an
extent that is startling.
The kipgisher diving from his perch
on a dead tree by the side of the stream
is not so certain in his aim as the heron,
and often energies empty-mouthed from
the water only to take his place once
more and patiently wait for another
chance. The kingfsher is no stickler
for size in his trout, but takes the first
that comes along. One of these birds has
been known to return ten times in an
hour to his fishing place, flying away with
a trout each time. As kingishers are
very common along the streams the
nnnataer trs,st ely slestrsDs IA the
coufse,of a seasonmust be simply enor-
nous.
The wild duck is probably the most
destructive of all the enemies of the
trout, for it confines itself entirely to
feeding on their spawn. Always glut-
ton, when duck finds the spawning
feed the main water, it will soon devour
thousands of eggs, and shovel the en-
tire contents of the breeding places into
its stomach if not moiested. One flock
of wild ducks can easily destroy the en-
tire breeding prospects of any trout
stream i'll short time.
The water snake, lurking as it does by
the hundred along every trout stream,
fishes with so much tact and cunning
that it numbers its prey by the thousand
from the time it energies from its hole
when the warm weather comes until it
is driven into its winter quarters. Coiled
in the alder bushes that overhang the
water, this snake watches for the coming
of our trout up the stream. When one
passes, the snake glides as softly and
smoothly as stream of oil into the
water, and diving follows the fish rapid
ly but stealthily, stopping like stick in
the water at every turn its intended vic
tim makes that might lead it to discov-
er the approach of its pursuer. Foot by
foot the snake draws closer to the trout,
and, watching its opportunity, darts
like flash forward, and sejzes the fish
in the back just above the tail. The
struggles of the trout are useless, for the
power which is always its main de-
pendence, the use its tail, cannot
be used. The snake backs down
stream with its prey until it reach
es a spot where it may leave the
creek with ease, and then draws itself
out on the shore, and seeking place OF
security, proceeds at once to gorge it.
self with its dainty capture.
It is fortunate not only for the trout
but for all kinds of fish that the snap
ping turtle, the td13'up of the aborigi-
mes, is of extremely slow growth, and
that it's eggs are themselves the prey of
birds, snakes and muskrats, for it is one
of the deadliest foes of the finny tribe III
existence. The swapping turtle is one
of the antediluvians. 1t has cruelty in
its eye, strength in its muscles, imper-
viousness in its shell, and neither mercy
nor gentleness in its heart or bowels.
With equal independence it lives on land
or in the waters. With equal courage
it defends itself rom man and beast.
- Co L.,
to which weight they often attain, is no
mean antagonist. When captured and
drawn into boat or cornered, it turns
on its captor and, rising on its black and
wrinkled legs, not crawling prone ike
an ordinary turtle, but with head ex-
tended, little yellow eyes glittering, and
sharp beak ready for the contest. it adj
vances defiant of everything. There is
no living thing so tenacious of life as a
swapping turtle. The head severed from
the body will live for DAYS, and the body
itself will exhibit life long after that
member has been separated from it. A
headless swapping turtle, moving about
in a still defiant attitude, erect on its
legs, as if seeking its captor, is as hide
GUS a sight as one might want to wit
ness. These turtles are dangerous, and
must be approached with great care
Their bite is terrible, and their jaws
never relax until the piece seized upon
comes ont, even when the head is cut
off. They are possessed Of a quiclness
of motion which no one would expect
from their heavy, awkward shape. In
June they dig a hole in the sand half
the depth of their bodies and lay their
eggs in it, often depositing as many as
fifty. The eggs are round, an inch in
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