Amador ledger., 1903-07-03
The WILD ANGLERS.
ANIMAL FISHERS THAT ARE QUICK
SURE, WARY AND SHY.

Chief Among Them Are the Heron,
the Kingfisher, the Mink, the Wa
ter Snake and the Swapping Tur-
le-HOw They Land Their Prizes.
Any one who can suppress for
awhile his eagerness with the rod on
trout stream and summon patience to
lie in wait and watch the ways of
beasts and BIRDS" said one who had
evidently been able to do so, will dis.
cover that he is not the only fisher in
those waters. Chief among the other
fishers are the heron, the kingfisher,
the mink, the water snake and the
swapping turtle
AN angler passing down in a brook
intent on his rod will rarely see any of
,hese wild fishers at their work, for
they are all wary. and shy, perhaps
with the exception of the water snake.
No angler has ever f1shed between the
elder skirted banks of any trout stream
without discovering one or more of
these reptiles harmless except as to
their woeful appetite for trout-twisted
around some overhanging branch,
watching for prey.
Zone day while fishing in a Sullivan
county brook L lay down in the shade
of maple to eat my lunch and smoke
pipe. While thus in quietude 1 saw
blue heron drop down on the edge of
the brook only rod or two away. Aft
er few minutes of statuesque watch
ing the long legged bird darted its
head down into the water, withdrew 1t
with large trout in its bill and flew
away.
mot more than five minutes after
the heron had disappeared a mink
came swimming up the brook. In a
pool nearly within my reach the mink
dived. A moment later it appeared
with a good half pound trout in its
mouth.
'This expert fisher had scarcely gone
its way when a harsh voiced kingfsher
alighted on a dead limb overhanging
the brook twenty yards from where
lay. The bird was not long on the limb
before down it went in the water and
came up with a trout. 1 was trying to
figure out what the probable drain on
the trout population of the country
might be from the inroads Of these
wild marauders when a water snake
came gliding up the stream carrying
trout in its mouth that was big enough
to talk about. Then I thought it was
time for me to get to fishing again be-
fore these expert and persistent wild
fishers had robbed me of my chance
for sport.
"Herons, like swapping turtles, select
the largest trout for their prey. They
usually fish at the foot of some deep
pool. Poised on one long. slender leg.
the heron, as immovable as If it were
carved from stone, waits patiently the
passing of some lusty. trout from the
rapid water below into the pool.
'The wait is seldom long one. Sud-
denly 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 birds
head appears in sight again a large
trout usually comes up with it. The
heron rises lazily from the creek, trail
ing its spindling legs, and flies home
with its savory burden.
Late in the season, when trout begin
to congregate where small spring runs
empty into the stream, the heron will
be found fishing there, as 1t seems to
know well, as does the kingfisher, all
the habits Of the fish 1t loves so we'll to
n,a
on trout stream will likely take from
1t thousand trout, many of them
heavy with spawn, during the time this
big bird fishes, which is from the time
the Ice leaves the creeks in the spring
until it forms on them again the fol-
lowing winter.
"The mink fishes all winter long as
well as in the summer. In fact, it is
during the icebound period that it is
most destructive to trout.
"The kingfsher is not SO certain in its
aim as the heron, but one failure never
discourages this winged marauder. 1t
will resume its perch on the dead limb
IAN outlook it seems to prefer-settle
down with its watchman's rattle cry
and watch and dive until the prize is
won.
1.-THE kingfsher is no stickler for size
in trout, but tries for the first that
comes along. 1t is a greedy fisher, or,
rather, perhaps the family that it feeds
has an Unsuitable appetite, for the bird
has been known to return ten times to
the same place within an hour and
carry away trout every time. A
catch which it makes in that length of
time the best of anglers nowadays
would consider something to boast of.
"Water snakes, basking by the hun
dreds .along every trout stream, fish
with so much tact and cunning that
they number their prey by thousands
from the time they come out of their
hibernating places, which is as soon as
the weather begins to get warm, until
the approach of winter drives them
back into their holes.
There is no knowing to how great
degree the trout retaliate on the snakes
for their warfare, but that they do
make reprisals is known to every an
gler, for many a big trout when
dressed is found to have from one to
three young water snakes in his stom-
ach.
'1t is fortunate not only for the
trout, but for all kinds of brook, pond
and river fishes, that the swapping tur-
tie is of extremely slow growth and
that its eggs are themselves the prey
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