St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1910-04-06
Biography of a Trout.
Conclusion of Article BY ]. w.
Titcomb Written for the New
England Magazine.

After a month of feeding. some of the
little fish have grown so much more
rapidly than others that it becomes
larger ones from eating their weakei
brothers and sisters. And so the little
fishes are divided and sorted at frequent
intervals, until the troughs, which
carried 20, 900 at the beginning, are still
full with only 1000 fish, which have
been fed two or three months.
Let us pause in the story of the orphan
and his companions long enough to look
over his new home. The hatchery
stands at one side of beautiful green
meadow, which is dotted here and there
with small sheets of water. These are
the larger breeding ponds for the big fish.
rearing ponds. somewhat smaller, in
which are the medium-sized fish, and the
nursery ponds, in which the fry are
cared for.
Through the meadow there flows a
stream of water made up of springs in
the forest-clad hills not far away. Some
of the water flows into the hatchery,
where it is distributed so as to supply
the various tiers of Matching troughs.
The stream is again divided several
times, SO that some of it flows through
each of the ponds.
In the breeding ponds there are trout
weighing two or three pounds. Then
there are the two-year-olds and the year
lings, graded according to size in ponds
set apart for them. Unlike the wild
trout, these fish are quite tame, and
some of them will take food from the fish
mans hand. They are usually hungry,
and when they see the shadow of the fish
man fall across the water they crowd to
the bank, and as he throws spoonfu1s of
food around the pond the water seems
to boil. The fish man sees the mass of
fins and tails squirming and twisting
and turning about in haste to reach a
choice morsel while some leap out of the
water, turn a complete sonersau1t and
swim greedily away with mouthful.
He carefully watches their capricious ap-
petites and sees that no food is left to
foul the pond.
He has become so we'll acquainted
with certain ones that he has given them
names. Jim and Mary are two especial
favorites, which are always pointed out
to the many visitors as the largest and
Oldest trout at the hatchery.
Mary has seven generations of child
rem, numbering as many thousands,
which are scattered far and wide. To
attempt to figure her grandchildren and
grandchildren requires more
this story, and the orphan and his COM
panions in the crowded troughs need at
tention.
So the fish man counts and sorts them
according to size, and than transfers
them to the nursery ponds. Our orphan
is graded with the largest fry and is one
of the liveliest in the school. AS his life
is much like that of the others, his ex-
periences will be recorded.
Now, the experiences of fish at hatch
cry seem to consist principally in eating
and in lodging those who wish to eat
them, lille those of fishes in stream
are practically the same, except that in
the stream the big fishes eat the little
ones, the little ones eat one another, and
all are caught and eaten by various an
imals, including the angler and his
friends. At the hatchery it is intended
to protect our orphan and his friends as
much as possible until they have grown
to size when they can take care of
themselves; but there are daily tragedies
in every trough and pond. even under
the vigilant care of the fish man.
Not long after our orphan was placed
in nursery pond he sees what appears
to him a very large fish, with some
curious marks on his sides, swimming
boldly among his mates. and every now
with his mouth open wide; sometimes he
SEXES one by the tail and again across it's
body, but he always gives the victim
dextrous twist and swallows it head
first. For two days he is in terror for
his life, and spends his hours lodging
this big fellow, lest he share the fate of his
mates. On the third day, as he watches
from his hiding place, he sees the familiar
shadow of the fish man. This time he
has a long-handled net in his hand. A
quick movement, and the big fish which
has been the terror of the pond is futter-
ing in the net, and the fish man is ex-
amininR those curious marks and
wondering how a fish of this size got in
to the nursery pond. The marks are v
shaped, as if made by the bill of a bird,
and he recalls that a kinghsher was
caught two days ago in a trap set on a
pole over the nursery pond. Now he has
the whole story. The kinghsher, with
out doubt, caught a trout about six
inches long and lit on the top of the pole,
intending to enjoy his prey. When the
trap sprung. the bird dropped the fish
bearing the tellta1e marks of its beak
among his younger brothers.
Of course, the orphan and his friends
do not know how the larger trout got
into their pond, for he did not stop to
tell them his experience before he began
to eat them; but it does not take them
long to learn that their big brother is
terrible cannibal, and that such fellows
must be avoided.
This tragedy was unusual, but it re-
suited in the loss of hundred little fish.
Did few of the strongest fish in the
pond at this time learn how to eat their
companions, or was it natural to them?
At any rate, a few of the weaker fish dis
appear daily, and one day the fish man
sees little fellow with the tail of an
other one sticking out of his mouth. He
removes this fellow, as he does others,
whenever they show tendency to eat
one another; for it is known that if the
little fish are well fed there will be only a
few cannibals among them. and that it
pays to kill or separate them from the
others.
Not long after the tragedy of the king