212 THE COMPLETE ANGLER. 



he hath known a pike in extreme hunger fight with one of 

 his otters for a carp that the otter had caught, and was then 

 bringing out of the water. I have told you who relate these 

 things, and tell you they are persons of credit ; and shall 

 conclude this observation, by telling you what a wise man 

 has observed, "It is a hard thing to persuade the belly, 

 because it has no ears." 2 



But if these relations be disbelieved, it is too evident to be 

 doubted, that a pike will devour a fish of his own kind that 

 shall be bigger than his belly or throat will receive, and 

 swallow a part of him, and let the other part remain in his 

 mouth till the swallowed part be digested, and then swallow 

 that other part, that was in his mouth, and so put it over by 

 degrees ; which is not unlike the ox, and some other beasts, 

 taking their meat, not out of their mouth immediately into 

 their belly, but first into some place betwixt, and then chew 

 it, or digest it by degrees after, which is called chewing the 

 cud. And, doubtless, pikes will bite when they are not 

 hungry ; but, as some think, even for very anger, when a 

 tempting bait comes near to them. 



And it is observed, that the pike will eat venomous things, 

 as some kind of frogs 3 are, and yet live without being harmed 

 by them ; for, as some say, he has in him a natural balsam, 

 or antidote against all poison. And he has a strange heat, 

 that though it appears to us to be cold, can yet digest or put 

 over any fish-flesh, by degrees, without being sick. And 

 others observe that he never eats the venomous frog till he 

 have first killed her, and then, as ducks are observed to do 

 to frogs in spawning -time, at which time some frogs are 

 observed to be venomous, so thoroughly washed her, by 

 tumbling her up and down in the water, that he may devour 





