342 VORACITY AND HAUNTS OF PIKE. 



which was afterwards swallowed by another, 

 weighing thirteen pounds and a half, and both 

 were taken. This story is barely probable, for I 

 do not see how the hook that caught the lesser 

 pike, should afterwards hook the larger one. It is 

 recorded that a large pike put into a canal full of 

 fish destroyed them all within twelve months, 

 except one carp, weighing nearly ten pounds, 

 which, though too large for the pike to swallow, 

 showed by its scars that he had attempted to do 

 so. I readily believe this anecdote. A pike caught 

 in the Isis was found to contain a barbel of six 

 pounds, and a chub of more than three. These 

 nine pounds of food formed nearly a third of his 

 own proper weight, which was thirty-one pounds 

 and a half. I believe this, for I once caught in a net 

 a pike weighing about four pounds, from whose 

 mouth the tail of a trout weighing a pound was 

 projecting. The pike had been caught in the 

 puise of a drag-net with several trout, and whilst 

 with them in the net had, no doubt, seized the 

 one which was found sticking in his throat. 



Pike are to be found in ponds, bog holes, 

 ditches, canals, and weedy rivers. Their best 

 haunts are in still, shady, and unfrequented 

 waters, having a sandy, clayey, or chalky bottom. 

 They grow larger in ponds and pools than in 

 open, sharp running rivers. From May to Oc- 

 tober they are usually found near or amongst 



