108 Fish and Game Warden. [Bull. No. 1. 



him to get to the bottom, and he immediately disappeared 

 under a bunch of water plants that was near the shore. The 

 fish were very much excited and swam up and down the small 

 inlet for some time. It took them several minutes to become 

 quiet and settle down to their regular work of guarding and 

 fanning the eggs in the nests. 



The nests were visited the following morning, but no ob- 

 servations of importance were made. We caught three snakes 

 with which to perform experiments by turning them loose near 

 the bass nests. However, we did not succeed in inducing the 

 snakes to swim near the bass as we desired. The snakes would 

 not perform as we hoped they would. They were stubborn 

 and mulish, and always went in the wrong direction. We have 

 on other occasions seen bass tackle snakes and disable or even 

 swallow them. One snake that was apparently too large to 

 be swallowed was so disabled that it could not swim except 

 in irregular curves. During the afternoon of the same day 

 these nests were destroyed by parties who were seining for 

 minnows, and who were unaware of the presence of the bass 

 nests and of their value to a student of fish culture. A min- 

 now net had been pulled over the beds, and the following day 

 there were no eggs in the nests and no bass present guarding 

 them, which goes to show that if the nests are disturbed by 

 pulling a seine or net over them the parent fish do not return, 

 and the eggs, if not destroyed or eaten by small fish, would 

 soon die of white fungus disease. 



Teaching Adult Black Bass to Eat. 



In Part II of this bulletin we gave some account of the food 

 habits of the Black bass, especially of the larger and grown fish. 

 We have carried on some experiments feeding Black bass here 

 at the Hatchery. In a pond where there were adult specimens 

 we found that we could feed them by going to places that they 

 naturally frequented. If the fish were fed at the same place 

 every day or every few days it would not be long until one 

 could expect them at that particular spot when feeding time 

 came. We were accustomed to feed them about five or six 

 o'clock in the afternoon. These fish were taught to eat, when 

 we first began to feed them, by throwing some live animals 

 such as grasshoppers, young frogs or minnows on the water. 

 After the fish had learned the feeding places they would be on 

 hand an hour or two before feeding time waiting for any food 

 that might be thrown to them. In fact, they became so accus- 

 tomed to being fed that when we were walking along the bank 

 it was not an uncommon thing to see a school of fish swimming 

 along opposite where we were walking, keeping even with 

 us and waiting for something to be thrown on the water. They 

 would instantly grab any food animal that was thrown in. 

 Live grasshoppers were usually fed first, and then minnows 

 and young frogs. Goldfish from two to six inches in length 

 were greedily seized by the fish. 



