Eels aid Trout Live in Harmony

Manawatu Times, Volume 70, Issue 266, 10 November 1945, Page 9

Eels aid Trout Live in Harmony

TAMED AFTER MANY YEARS BY FACTORY MANAGER Seven years of patient training have rewarded Mr. A. Porter, York Road, Midhirst, With the knowledge that eels and trout, large and small, can live together in the closest harmony and be tamed to the extent of taking food from his hand without the slightest fear.

Mr. Porter, who is manager of the York Road Creamery, first began taming trout soon after he became manager of the creamery. In a fair-sized pool at the back of the factory, he noticed young trout, and after some time he began throwing food into the pool at regular intervals. No progress witn the taming of the fish was made for some months, but eventually they became accustomed to him and milled about the feeding spot on the water’s edge. He studied their habits and was able to tell when the fish would stop eating at the spawning season.

At first eels were considered a menace to the trout, and Mr. Porter set about clearing the pool of them. Many were caught in various ways, but one day while he was feeding the trout he noticed an eel close by. His immediate thought was to catch it, but as it appeared so tame he fed it, too. Regularly afterwards the eel joined the trout for food, and Mr. Porter stopped all slaughter of eels in the pool. Gradually more eels carno to the pool, and for three years now he has been feeding and taming both eels and trout.

Recently & reporter paid a visit to the pool. Joined by Mr. Porter, he watched the result of years of patient work. Lying on a landing stage he had built some years ago, Mr. Porter threw food, which is sediment from the +'~ tory separator, into the water, and soon about 15 large trout and about eight full-grown eels were ranging about in the water below the stage. Mr. Porter fed the fish by simply holding the food in his hand under the water. The trout, with keener eyes than the eels, took the food from his fingers with a swirl of water before the eels were near. Trout were continually brushing against his hand, and he was able to touch and turn the largest of the trout on its side to display its depth. Eels lying on the pool bottom rose to the surface and took food from the palm of his hand. The eels appeared more friendly than the trout, despite the fact that he had been taming them for only three years, compared with seven years* work with the trout.

To illustrate the tameness of the eels Mr. Porter deliberately put his finger in the eels* mouth. The eels did

not close their jaws, but opened them wide and drew away. ‘‘One thing about the eels is that, contrary to public belief, thev are not slimy,** said Mr. Porter. ‘‘lt is only when they are frightened that they become slimy.**

In winter there is not an eel to bo seen, and for about two weeks the trout are absent spawning, but they have always come back. Mr. Porter has never seen any of the eels attacking a fingerling trout. On the pool are ducks, and among the amusing things his hobby has provided him is the sight of a duck and a trout racing for food. Often the trout will overtake the duck, and as the trout rises to the surface for the morsel it will lift the duck from the water and carry it along for a distance. Mr. Porter feeds his pets between 2 p.m, and 3 p.m. each fine day.