PERCH IN A TANK.

Wanganui Herald, Volume XXXXVI, Issue 13335, 25 March 1911, Page 7

PERCH IN A TANK.

Between four and live years ago the outlet from Duddingston Loch which flows into the Braid Burn was cleaned out and deepened. The result was, says the Weekly Scotsman, that thousands of small perch went downwards to the.', sea. As they evidently cannot live in salt water; many were observed dead on the beach near tno entrance of the burn.- A number ascended the brook as far as Bridgend, where they became an easy nrey lo tho .juvenile “guddlers” of the hamlet. Half a dozen,were transferred from the brook to a cement, tank in the Inch garden, the stagnant water apparently constituting congenial quarters. During their live years’ imprisonment they seem to have thriven. They are regularly fed with worms, and have become quite tame. ..mileas discussion has from time to time taken place as to whether-.or not salmon feed in fresh water. In the case of the perch (says an observer), I have observed that at this season they do not feed at. all. but remain at the bottom and out of si"ht. Nothing will induce them to eat till the month of May. About tho middle of that month they begin to feed, and directly one’s band touches the water up they come, in the expectation of getting a. worm. It is most amusing to watch them at this process. That their powers of suction must be great is evident, as directly one swims near its prey the worm seems to dart like' lightning into its month. It is difficult adequately to describe the operation. The nearest resemblance to it is the ■ action of a needle when, a magnet is pushed within the range, of its atraction. ,Early in November, perch gradually cease to feed, and as already said, fast till May again comes round. Of the longevity of perch it is difficult to hazard an opinion. It is known that trout have lived to forty years of age, but the writer is unaware of anyone having • kept perch for such a long period. The half-dozen in question weighed only between two and three ounces whan put in the tank, and now after five years they appear to be between half and three-quarters of a’ pound. In the tank are water lilies and other aquatic' plants, growing in submerged boxes, and am on" the leaves the perch have frequently deposited their spawn. No young nerch, however, have been seen, 'which indicates that they are either all of one sex or that a cement tank is not conducive to tho perpetutation of the species.