The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1884-05-08
QUEER FISH.
Taught TO Jump Over . Hurdle ana LcaI
Ont of the Water,

Out Of the Water.
If you want to see SPORT" said lover
of animals, swatch that cat" The ami
NAL had stationed herself in the library
door, and was looking intently in the
room. In few moments she began to.
walk slowly toward large aquarium
that stood in the window, and with q
light leap mounted the narrow edge,
balanced herself over the water. Next
she leaned down, thrust her red tongue
into the miniature lake, and began lap
ping the cooling water. Then came a
rush, and bright speckled object
darted. A splash, a clicking, sucking
sound, and q vail of feline anguish rose
on the air. There was second of
wavering, and round bunch of hair
fell into the water with sounding
splash, scrambled out again, and dis
appeared through the door amid the
daughterof the witnesses.
"That," said the host, Happens about
every day, with only slight variations.
You see, the fish, a suntish, is perfectly
tame-trained, in fact, to rise to my
hand and take it's food from me by
leaping several inches out of the water.
Being continually leased the fish has &C.
quired an irritable temper, and attacks
everything that approaches the water.
Some time ago the cat discovered the
fish and leaped upon the bank as you
have seen her do, putting her head
down to the water. The moment her
whiskers touched it the suntish had her,
and hung on like a good one. She
started back and fell to the floor, the
fish dropping back. The next day she
again made the attempt, and in balanc-
ing upon the side of the narrow rim her
tail touched the water. The fish seized
it and in she went, but she never seems
to learn. just now the fish mistook her
tongue for the meat feed it with and
nipped it we'll. You know it is some
times said that fish cannot see what is
going ON out of water; this fellow is an
exception, however. Watch it now"
The speaker took small piece of cloth
feet of the water. In moment the
sharp eyed and richly hued fish was at
the surface. The rag was then lowered
and the prisoner leaped clear of its ma
tive element in its endeavors to reach it.
The experimentalist next placed his
hands in the water, and the fish darted
at them and passed through his fingers,
allowing itself to be touched without
the slightest sign of fear.
"The sunfshes," said the fish trainer,
"are, think, the most intelligent of all
our fresh water fishes. train them to
preform extraordinary feats, such as
jumping oyer hurdle on the surface
of the water, and then over series of
them. You often see fishes in nature
doing the same thing. I have trained
my suntish SO that it rings q bell sus.
pended over the aquarium, but: like
Barnum' clown elephant, it rings it con
tinually unless supply of food is
kept up. The suntish, has its likes
and dislikes and it has two fast friends
in pair of catfishes. Some time ago
I introduced number of gold fishes,
and all but one were accepted in good
fellowship. Toward this one unfortu-
nate, that was one of the triple-tailed
Japanese fishes, the suntish showed
the greatest aversion, spending the en-
tire time in chasing it around the tank
biting it in the most savage manner
and, seemingly, urging on the cattishes,
who, would creep slyly up to the victim
and ,seizing fin, cling to It with ferocity
I was obliged to take the poor fish out
and place it in an adjoining tank, where
the very sight of it still enraged the
sunfish, and yet, as I said before, to-
ward the Americans it was perfectly
friAndly.-New York Sun.