The Coolidge examiner., 1935-09-06
Winding Guppies
By James J. Montague

TT MY wife had asked me to look
after the cat over a week end
l. might have demurred. Cats
are nocturnal animals. and are
prone 90 distant periErinaiions from
which. II they return At all. u ls
with p@erIsh dispositions and scars
% hattie Moreover. n you forget
90 feed them they are likely 20 visit
around among the neiEhbor's garbage
cans. aud make themselves III sun
hare lived among cats more or
less from boyhood. and. as far as
any man can. I understand them.
Yet ! should hesitate 20 undertake
the responsibility OF a cat
would not. without reluctance.
hare accepted a mandate for a bird
~ Il had been thrust upon me. You
can keep a bird In bis cage. so there
wIll De no occasion 20 sit up nights
waiting for him 20 return. Bot he
Is dainty IN his diet and subject 20
food or shedding feathers lay him
liable 20 serious ailments. and there
never seems to be a bird physician
around when you want him How
ever. as have said. had a bird been
committed TO my charge. ] probably
would have said. ~Ail right, but II
the drafted thing pines away and
dies because II cannot bear Up un-
der your absence. don't blame me.
! did al that was humanity possible
TO save II"
Bot when l was asked 20 look
after the gupplcs over a weekend
said Immediately: Certainly. Just
tell whai they eat and how often to
change the water on them. and Ill
be glad 10 look after them
That was before / knew about
gupples What as;onishcs me now
Is why the lady didn't put me
through a cross-examInatIon on pls-
ciculiure before she left the guppies
with me. But she was In a hurry 10
Eet away. and I fancy eiat perhaps
she imagined that az least | might
D. competent to feed a parcel OF
fish
The morning after her departure
came downstairs 10 End that three
81 the little creatures were swim
ming on their backs AZ FIRST I took
this posture 90 be an evidence OF
their desire TO stunt a little. as
many animals win DO when there
are humans looking az them. Then
/ noticed that one OF them seemed
out of action altogether. and was
cold and rigid when | scOoped him
out OF the aquarium with the palm
of my hand
Forthwith turned. TO q hand
book on gupples which lay on the
table From It's pages / discovered
that a person who can successfully
cater 20 these Insignificant denizens
81 the sea. ought 10 serve an appren-
tieeship OF at least a year. and over
and beyond that 10 be a trained
naturalist and aquarium curator. /
telephoned 10 the Office that should
Be late, and seating myself beside
the aquarium. began TO study my
new occupation.
Ny first discovery was that as
soon as / rose In the morning |
should have taken the temperature
OF the water. Indistinetly / recalled
that something had been said about
that when the brutes were turned
over 10 my custody. / seized the
thermometer. and thrust IL in
among them with such violence that
they al fed into a corner and went
into panic-stricken huddle. TAX
ing IL out again | found that no CUP
py could live In such a tempera-
ture. Well the book was wrong
there. AT least two-thlrds Of them
were living. and among them were
4 few which were apparently as
lively as grigs-whatever grigs are.
Reading on learned that the re-
ceptacle for the gupples should con-
tain a number OF snails, whose Of
Zee was 10 destroy bits OF food un-
eaten by the guppies so that II
might not putrefy and upset their
stomaehs. The writer OF the book
apparently took It for granted that
these fish. which manage to support
themselves In the vasty deep. be-
come Idiots about diet as soon as
they are taken elsewhere.
For ten minutes l poked around
In the sand at the bottom OF the
bowl and at last brought a snail to
light. But he was sad dispkit-
ed snail. and so low in bis mind
apparently that he did not care for
uneaten food. / took him out, and