26S SUCKERS, CARP, AND MINNOWS 



Between tlu* years is?? and L885 tin* streams of verv 

 nearly the whole Pacific coast of the United States were 



slocked with Carp. At first they w civ placed in ponds, hnl 



through "moving accident, by Hood and Held," they reached 

 the rivers, and impregnated them and all their tributaries. 

 At lirsl they were highly esteemed, and sometimes greatly 

 overpraised. It was claimed thai they were hardy, prolific, 

 harmless to other fishes, rapid in growth, persistent under 

 adverse conditions and acceptable on the table. Beyond 



question, under certain conditions nearly all these claims are 



justified by the 1'acls! 



l>ni when the uovelty wore oil' (lie Carp, the cold-blooded 

 critic began to say things. By him il was pointed out that 

 Car]) stir up the mud in all mud-bottomed ponds inhabited 

 by them, and keep the water murky. This is quite true; and 

 to keep the mud-loving Carp from perpetually soiling and 

 disfiguring the once clear and beautiful waters of the Merced 



Lakes, in California, first sea-linns, and then muskallunge, 



were introduced to exterminate the Carp, 



In California the Carp is now ranked with the intro- 

 duced cattish, as an unwelcome guest. It is claimed that 

 Carp consume to a serious extent the wild celery and grasses 

 (»n which wild ducks [va\, and the duck supply is diminished 



thereby; luit this charge remains to be proven. The chances 

 are as ninety-nine to one that the choke-bore shotgun is 



the real and the only cause of the decrease in wild ducks. 



1 1 i> also claimed that Carp eat the eggS of other fishes; 



which is extremely probable, for very many fishes do that. 

 Whatever may he said for or against the desirability of 



