-Caveat Lector-
I live in Gary Indiana and we have what around here are called "mud
puppies" and are a variety of walking cat fish. I caught one when I was
about 15 years old in some water near one of the steel mills and it shocked
the heck out of me at the time.
magnetic field
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----- Original Message -----
From: "Bill Richer" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Saturday, July 21, 2001 8:43 PM
Subject: [CTRL] Walking catfish caught crossing road
> -Caveat Lector-
>
> WJPBR Email News List [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Peace at any cost is a Prelude to War!
>
> Walking catfish caught crossing road
> July 20, 2001
>
> By Dan McCue
> staff writer
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> STUART -- Monika Daly could barely believe her eyes as she returned to her
> home in the Florida Club development late Wednesday afternoon.
>
> A strong thunderstorm passing through the area an hour earlier had
drenched
> her yard with more than an inch of rain. In the wetness near the curb, she
> noticed "a kind of wriggling."
>
> I was certain it was a snake," Daly recalled Thursday. "But when I got
close,
> it lifted itself on its front flippers and tried to kind of, flip-flop
walk
> away from me."
>
> With that, the reality of the situation became clear.
>
> It was a walking catfish Daly had found. In another moment -- just long
> enough for her to scramble for a bucket to return the mustachioed fish to
a
> pond behind her house -- five more were making tracks, such as they were,
> across Blue Stem Way.
>
> "I've been a Florida resident for years, but have never seen anything like
> this," Daly said.
>
> When her husband, Frank, came home, Daly greeted him with, "Honey, you're
not
> going to believe this. ..."
>
> He didn't.
>
> But Thursday morning, as the sun rose over the Treasure Coast, a dozen
more
> of the black, 8- to 10-inch-long catfish were making their way across the
> street.
>
> Originally native to southeast Asia, the walking catfish, or clarias
> batrachus, as it is scientifically known, can walk short distances on
land,
> moving from one water body to the next -- thanks to two unique aspects of
its
> ana- tomy: auxiliary breathing organs and the strong spines of its fins
that
> can lock, allowing it to walk.
>
> In its native environment, the walking catfish inhabits muddy swamps,
ponds,
> ditches, and rice paddies, but it initially came to America from Thailand
as
> a popular pet shop item.
>
> Paul Shafland, a biologist with Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation
> Commission's exotic fisheries laboratory in Boca Raton, said the odd
catfish
> entered the Florida ecosystem during the 1960s, when several of the fish
> escaped from commercial fish farms near Deerfeld Beach and Tampa.
>
> "Basically, they appear to have simply walked out of these facilities,"
> Shafland said.
>
> Since then, the walking catfish has become one of the most extensively
> distributed of any exotic fish in the state, moving into a range
stretching
> from Central Flo- rida to the southern tip of the peninsula.
>
> Besides surprising Florida homeowners from time to time with their sudden
> emergence -- often after heavy rains -- the walking catfish is considered
> somewhat problematic because it competes with native game species and is
an
> efficient predator that devastates freshwater fish communities.
>
> Despite their presence in Florida wetlands, the state Fish and Wildlife
> Conservation Commission requires people to secure a permit before owning
one.
>
> "We see them every once in a while, but because of the drought, it's
probably
> been quite a long time since we've seen a significant emergence in this
> area," said Philip Baldwin, program director for the Florida Oceanographic
> Society.
>
> Baldwin theorizes that during the drought, populations of walking catfish
> continued to increase in deeper ponds and wetlands, and the rain provided
the
> fish with a chance to find new places to live where there are fewer of
them
> and more food sources.
>
> The walking catfish feeds on insect larvae, earthworms, shells, shrimp,
small
> fish, aquatic plants and even debris and garbage.
>
> "That's one reason they're so good at competing against native species,"
> Baldwin said. "They'll eat anything."
>
> Shafland said Baldwin's take on walking catfish is the common view, but
one
> he disagrees with.
>
> "Don't get me wrong, we consider these animals biological pollution. We
don't
> like them and we don't want them here. But they simply haven't proven as
> catastrophic as once was feared," the biologist said.
>
> "In fact, except for these isolated cases, we don't see nearly as many as
we
> used to," Shafland continued.
>
> Heavy rains, thick clouds and, in some cases, even heavy morning dews, are
> key to inspiring the catfish's movement, he said.
>
> "That's because although they have a simple lung and can survive out of
water
> for some time -- I've kept some alive in the lab for months that way --
they
> still need a certain amount of wetness around to keep their skin moist.
Once
> they begin to dry out, they start to die in a hurry," Shafland said.
>
> That's exactly what began to occur on Blue Stem Way on Thursday. As Daly
> sought to retrieve the catfish and throw them back in the pond, passing
cars
> and the hot Florida sun began to take their toll.
>
> By mid-morning, several vultures had gathered in the area to feast on an
easy
> meal and pick off stragglers.
>
> Daly said her brush with walking catfish is just the latest in a string of
> interesting animal-related "encounters" she's had since moving to Stuart
last
> year.
>
> "First, of course, there was the battle our development was having with
the
> pig farm," she said, referring to last year's courtroom showdown between
the
> Florida Club and farmers Tho- mas and Faith Ann Rossano, who often played
> loud music on their property -- claiming their pigs liked it.
>
> Last year, a jury found the music the Rossanos played for their pigs was a
> nuisance to the club, but decided the family wasn't intentionally
interfering
> with its neighbors or with the golf course community's business.
>
> On another point, the jury decided the pigs and their odor weren't a
> nuisance.
>
> More recently, Daly stepped out on her back porch and was greeted by a
large
> alligator.
>
> "Still, I love living here, and these walking catfish take the cake," she
> said.
>
> Asked whether her experiences with the unusual animals have affected her
> appetite, Daly didn't miss a beat.
>
> "I don't know," she quipped. "But I do seem to be losing my taste for
> catfish."
>
>
>
>
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DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER
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CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic
screeds are unwelcomed. Substancenot soap-boxingplease! These are
sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'with its many half-truths, mis-
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That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and
always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no
credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply.
Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector.
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