EELS. 183 



In a letter in the Zoologist for 1846 upon this subject, Mr. Banister says: — "We have 

 polecats abundant in Pilling- during the whole year; and in the winter season, when the 

 water in the ditches in the main drains is chiefly congealed, and more especially when the 

 ice is covered with snow, the footprints of the polecat may be traced on the ice, and the 

 most indubitable evidence is thus afforded of its predilection for fish. Under such circum- 

 stances I have repeatedly ascertained that this animal is a most expert fisherman, for in 

 severe and long-continued frosts many Eels ascend our open drains, and as these watercourses 

 are _ most slightly frozen over near the springs, the polecats, either by instinct or experience, 

 discover the retreat of the Eels. In tracing the footprints of the polecat it will soon be 

 ascertained that he halts at every hole or opening he meets with in the ice, and at once 

 commences fishing, by introducing a fore-foot into the water, and, no doubt, groping all 

 around under the ice as far as he can reach in search of such Eels as may have come to 

 the aperture for air. That he uses his fore-paws in this manner is distinctly proved by his 

 dirty footprints afterwards in the snow. It is also an admitted fact in the natural history of 

 the Eel, that it cannot exist without air. The polecats then, aware, either from instinct or 

 habit, of this propensity of Eels to assemble round any aperture in the ice for the benefit of 

 the air, invariably search for them at every opening they meet with ; and in tracing their 

 footprints in the snow, as above described, it will frequently be discovered that Eels have 

 been dragged from under the ice by these wily fishermen, and either devoured on the surface 

 or carried to their dens to satisfy their hunger at some future opportunity." 



Every naturalist has observed the peculiar denticulation on the inside of the middle claw 

 of the common heron : is it probable, as Lacepede observes, that the bird drives this claw 

 into the body of the Eel, and so renders ineffectual all its efforts to slip from its grasp ? 

 The heron, doubtless, occasionally finds a large Eel an "awkward customer;" and he fre- 

 quently has to come out of the water on to the land, so as to be able to deal his slippery 

 friend stronger and better directed blows. Yarrell relates, and gives a spirited vignette of 

 the circumstance, that a heron had once struck his sharp beak through the head of an Eel, 

 piercing both eyes, and that the Eel — no doubt remembering that one good turn deserves 

 another — had coiled itself so tightly round the neck of the heron as to stop the bird's 

 respiration ; both were dead. 



That Eels are not devoid of sagacity is proved by many well-attested anecdotes : they 

 are said to form themselves into companies for hunting, and by partly encircling a shoal of 

 small fish, drive them to the shore, where they are more readily caught and devoured. Mr. 

 Jesse states that he has observed this fact in the canal in Hampton Court Park. Eels are 

 not particular in their choice of food : young water-fowl, fish of all kinds, worms, spawn, 

 insects, Crustacea, &c., form their staple articles of diet. They appear, however, to vary their 

 dinners with occasional nibbles at fresh-water plants. In warm weather they are often to be 

 seen coiled round an aquatic plant in a vertical position ; for what purpose they do this I 

 have been unable to discover. In the winter time Eels are often found knotted together in 

 large masses. This fact was known to Pliny. Is it probable that they congregate for the 

 sake of ensuring warmth ?* 



Eels are of great commercial value ; and there seems to be no reason why Eel-culture, 

 if attempted in the British Isles, should not be attended with satisfactory pecuniary results. 

 Incalculable numbers are annually destroyed, as they ascend our rivers: it is a pity these 

 young elvers are not protected. Of course, in rivers which are favourable to the increase of 

 Salmon and Trout the presence of large quantities of devouring Eels is anything but desirable; 

 but their multiplication in our sluggish rivers, which contain either such fish as are able to 

 take care of themselves or such as are, comparatively speaking, worthless, is a matter worth 

 consideration. 



* See Lacepede, vi. p. 481. 



