Lake Maxinkuckee, Physical and Biological Survey 623 



The Water-dog seems to feed chiefly on small fishes and craw- 

 fishes. The stomachs of several examined December 10, 1900, and 

 later the same winter, were literally packed with fishes. At various 

 times in December one or more were seen among schools of skip- 

 jacks near shore, apparently feeding on them. Examples exam- 

 ined December 18 contained, in one instance, two small fishes each 

 about 3 inches long, another the bones of the hind legs of a frog, 

 and still another a fish hook baited with a piece of liver, evidently 

 from some fisherman's line. Of several stomachs examined De- 

 cember 28, some were filled with full grown skipjacks, while others 

 contained several small fishes each. Four examined February 27 

 contained several minnows evidently taken from fishermens' hooks. 

 On March 2 several others examined contained a number of bait 

 minnows and one a large crawfish. Three examined March 8 con- 

 tained 6 shiners, 3 crawfish, 2 Aselli, 2 leeches, and several long 

 flat worms; and a fourth contained 3 crawfish and 3 snails (prob- 

 ably Physa. One examined March 18 contained one small min- 

 now and a large worm. The stomachs of four examined April 27 

 were all empty, as was another (a male) inspected May 9. On 

 November 16, 1904, one was found with stomach empty and 

 another with one long red leech. One examined January 1, 1905, 

 contained 2 straw-colored minnows, 3 crawfish, 2 large insect 

 larvae, and 1 large brown flat leech. 



The species of fishes which we have found in the water-dog 

 stomachs are the skipjack (Labidesthes sicculus), the straw-col- 

 ored minnow (Notropis blennius) , the grayback (Fundulus dia- 

 phanus), and two or three species of bait minnows not indigenous 

 to the lake and eyidently stolen from fishermen's hooks. One 

 fisherman reported that he had seen a water-dog trying to catch 

 a sunfish, but we were not able to verify this observation. We 

 have frequently observed these animals in shallow water near shore 

 among schools of the small fishes named above and evidently in- 

 tent on preying upon them; never, however, did we see one cap- 

 ture a fish. As already stated, they were most disposed to feed 

 near shore at night during the summer; but in winter when ice 

 covered the lake they seemed habitually to come into shallow water 

 under the ice in the daytime, particularly on bright sunny days. 

 Sometimes they seem to congregate in considerable numbers under 

 the ice. In the winter of 1899-1900 some boys found several 

 bunched under the ice in a little cove of Lost Lake just north of 

 the Bardsley cottage, and succeeded in killing 15 by hitting on the 

 ice above them with a stout club. 



Crawfish also form an important and considerable element in 



4017618 



