Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1905-11-11
A cARNIVoRoUs FISH.
An Island Farmer Makes most Start


The piranha (Serrasalmo piraya) is
n very abundant fish over the whole Of
equatorial America. 1t Is about eight
inches long and four inches deep, with
a thickness of two inches or less. Its
Jaws are furnished with very sharp trl-
angular teeth, placed irregularly. The
back shows blush reflections, while
the sides of the belly are red; the body
is covered with little scales.
This little fish is a fierce and ex-
tremely voracous flesh eater, and
what seems very curious is that in the
Island of Marajo, situated at the
mouth of the Amazon, it has become
an actual pest to cattle raisers.
The piranna lives in shoals in the fiv
ers and brooks of the delta, going up
with the tide as far as the meadows,
whence often it is not able to descend,
having allowed itself to be surprised
by the ebb. In such cases it is often
found in such great quantities that the
natives have no trouble in killing it by
hundreds by the most rudimentary pro-
cesses, and often merely with their
machetas.
At the beginning of the rainy season
that is to say, toward January-these
fish ascend the water courses and
spread over the meadows submerged
by the rains and which remain under
the water until July, and often until
the end of August. During all this
time the piranha lives in the meadows,
feeding upon whatever falls to his
teeth. Cattle are then exposed to in
cessant attacks. 1t is above all cows
and mares that have the most to suf:-
fer from its voraclty. On the farm.
Dumas, Island of Marajo my father
lost, during the rainy season from
January to July, 1899, about 400 cows
and mares, whose teats had been Who'll
ly or partly cut off by the piranha.
Some of them had even had the udders
partly eaten. During the rainy sea-
son the cattle pass practically the
whole day in the water, which often,
on clay soil, reaches a depth of TWEEN
ty-four inches. They browse on the
grass, which always reaches the sur
face, and 1t is not until toward evening
that they leave the water to 90 and
spend the night on the woody islands.
The piranha even attacks alligators,
when, for example, the wound of bull
let in the muscles of the tail has weak.
ened the giant The blows of the tail
and the irregular movements of the
wounded creature lead the spectator to
understand that these terrible little
fish have commenced their work of dis
section.
The abundance of these Internal fish
is such that if one plunges into the
water the skin of q freshly killed capy-
bara to take it out again in two or
three minutes, a resistance is felt and
the skin is heavy with the immense
quantity of plranhas that have at
tached themselves to it. Their TRAN
gular teeth anchored in the prey do not
let go their hold, and the fishes may
be drawn up out OF the water rather
than abandon their feeding ground.
No animal falling into the water es
capes this creature, which we'll de-
serves the picturesque name given him
by the natives. scissor fish. No matter
what part is scratched, drop of blood,
a little wound, will attract the first
bite, and only few minutes will suf-
fee to transform man, beef or horse
into a skeleton with will lack even
some of the small bones and all of the
cartilages.
My father was obliged to consider
the destruction of the piranha on his
property, and this is how he takes it:
Before the meadows become dry, we
construct light barrlcades on the lit
tie watercourses by means of bam-
boos split in two or four. We leave
them there until the water has almost
all run off from the brook. The pir-
anhas, finding themselves stopped by
these barriers, we have every facility
for killing enormous quantities, after
which we raise our improvised barrier
and let the other fishes down to the
river in peace.
When the plranha is little, he is
good to eat In fishing, the small
hooks are attached to iron or copper
wire but this last is often cut by the
teeth. With hand-line, fifty or sixty
may be taken in an hour, and even
more, If one is in good place. How
ever. one must be careful while fish
ing not to allow his legs and feet to
be bitten. The leather of shoes is not
a sufficient protection against the bite
of the piranha, which is very painful,
and unhappily very easily becomes
Observation-Disclosures from Bulletin
de la societe Centrale d'Agriculture
ct de Peche.
A Birmingham man named Bachelor
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