The Middlebury register and Addison County journal. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1883-1885, 1885-08-28
TIE QUEEREST FISH NESTS.
MI PYRAMID BUILDERS oF THE
ST. LAWRENCE.
EiNh Nests Made ny HHeaping Tn
Thousands of Pebbles Difference
of opinion Among Eishermen,

stop ner!" shouted the man in the
bow. A second later the boat sheared
oil, just avoiding a pile of stones that
doomed up On the sandy bottom like a
regular pyramid.
"What is it2" asked some one.
Looks like a dump from a steamer"
ut must be that" said the bowman.
leaning over and grasping some of the
stones from the top of the heap. t'They
are clean pebbles, and look as though
they had been piled purposely.
The speaker had an oar overheard, and
was holding the boat over the pile, SO
that all hands could see it, and that mo-
ment one of the professional fishermen
came rowing along.
Looking at the club beds?" he
shouted.
We're looking at a heap of stones"
replied the %discoverer.
"Wall, them's club beds" replied the
fisherman. "Chubs makes EN-. Clubs
is fish"
you don't tell me that a fish heaped
up these rocks, do you?" asked an as.
tonished and incredulous voyager.
That's just what I'm a sayin'," wa3
the reply; zane not only this, but half IL
dozen more right in sight of this. Just
stand up and look"
The writer stood upon a seat, and, sure
enough, five other heaps appeared, all
within "A radius of twenty-five feet. and
all larger than the one first noticed. One
was at least ten feet across at the base
and four feet high, making the water
shallow enough upon the top to stop a
small boat. Some of the stones weighed
a quarter Of a pound, but the most of
them were of all shapes and sizes, from
that of a pea up to an oblong stone of
the weight given. In the largest pile
there were probably seven or eight bush
els, representing thousands of stones.
counting the smallest, and each one of
these represented a journey by a fish.
Yes, " continued the fisherman, who
had hauled alongside, call that work
was done by a fish, and what is more, l
have seen them do it-Seen them with
the stones in their mouth. If YOU take
notice of a club you will see that it has
a mouth with a kind of smooth lips. and
no teeth to speak of; in fact, the mouth
is regularly fixed for lifting stones and
the like"
'But what do they do it fori' asked
some one.
why, to lie on, I s'pose,' said the
boatman. 1--WE seen them lying on the
beds in June, half a dozen at a time,
sometimes right near the top of the
water. Some folks say how they build
the beds so they kin get near the top Of
the water and see what's going on, but
there don't seem to be much sense in
that, What does a fish want with pyra-
midsl 1t don't stand to reason. be-
lieve they do it for a sort of loafing place,
and all hands join in bringinga stone
until, as you see, they build up a regular
fish monument
as this the only place in which they
are foundl" asked an observer.
'Bless you, no. You kin find 'em all
along shore wherever there's a good
sandy or clear bottom Jest like this, and
up among the Canadian islands they're
as thick as hops. I've often run into
EN- when rowing along shore, but the
biggest ones are those that have been
CROWN for years, so to speak. They
couldn't make a big one in a year very
well, rs you can see, sc every year they
add to them. They'd be bigger yet if it
wasn't for the ice that clears the tops Off
every spring. But if you notice you
will see that the top stones are the
brightest and cleanest, while those
around the bottom are dirty and moss
covered. The ones at the bottom are
the old last year stones"
1t was curious to notice the difference
of opinion among the fishermen, who
have lived here all their lives, as to the
pyramids.
"What do you think makes thcm?"
was asked of the intelligent man.
Il don't think anything about it." he
replied. Il know it's muskrats."
But the muskrats couldn't get into
a pile of rocks and gravel, " was sug-
gested.
That's jest what puzzled me" con-
tinued the fisherman. ''But I've seen a
muskrat under water on a heap and
killed it right there. No, | never see
one bringing rocks, but what was he dom
on the mound if he want totin' stone2
He might have had his mouth full and l
wouldn't have seen it,"
"Whyl'
'Because I've seen the big bass fool
ing around them and lying right on
top of them, and not once, but a good
many times. What would they be dom
IL lney WASH I lueTe lot Iudt p
And to show you how they stick to the
heaps. l have dropped a hook down
among five or six big fellows that were
hanging around on the heap, and
yanked half of them out by getting the
hook under them. So it's my opinion
that bass made them. l know they call
them club beds"
These two men and a few others were
the only ones who differed with our
first informant, and it is a fact well
known to naturalists that the heaps are
built or erected by clubs Exoglassum)
for the protection of their eggs. The
club is IA fish hat attains here Il weight
of two pounds, and is often taken on a
fly or minnow, and affords good sport.
In other localities, as the North Woods,
they are known as suckers, but | never
found that in the inland lakes they built
at all, but it is not improbable, as the
name stonetoter is also given them there.
They are fine-looking fishes, shining like