Some Habits of the Carp 



Roy Walter James 

 (A sample of Real Nature-Study. — The Editor.) 



About one mile south of the town of Puente, Cal., is a small creek 

 that contains water all the year around. The stream is known 

 locally as Puente Creek. Downstream about three miles and 

 near North Whittier Heights, where the Salt Lake Railroad crosses 

 the creek, a cement dam has been built beneath the bridge, forming 

 a pond that extends back upstream about three-quarters of a mile. 

 In this pond and also above and below it cat-fish, carp, and many 

 other fresh-water fishes abound. At the pond above the dam I 

 have spent some time studying them. 



I am limiting this writing to the results of my study of the carp. 

 As far as I have been able to determine they are the German carp ; 

 but they have extremely large eyes which is not usual with the 

 common species of German carp. I have loitered around the 

 places they haunt at all times, from midnight to dawn, and thru all 

 hours of the day, so that I could observe where they are and what 

 they do during these different times. 



From 9 :oo p. m. to 2 :oo a. m. they seem to rest absolutely, along 

 the bottom of the stream; then about 4 :oo a. m. a few of them will 

 feed a little, while as yet most of them still rest. As soon as it 

 becomes light they begin swimming around but they do not feed 

 At this time they stay in the deepest shades, under roots, overhang- 

 ing trees and logs, and in holes in the bank. From 9:00 a. m. to 

 1 :oo p. m. they are very lively. This is the best time to observe 

 them. 



It seems as if a fish or group of fishes has a certain beat to patrol. 

 When any foreign creature comes along it is chased away. For 

 example : I once put in the pond a small catfish that I had caught 

 in the stream and the carp came in great numbers and chased it 

 off downstream. There was in particular one large fish with a 

 yellow fin that could always be found within a space of one hundred 

 feet along the stream, on one side or the other, between or under 

 two willow trees that overhung the water. Sometimes he could 

 be found at one end of his beat and sometimes at the other, but 

 never above or below these trees; which goes to show that they 

 have certain patrolled areas that they do not leave. 



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