442 TRANSACTIONS OF THE 



ply half a dozen families the year round from it. They are the 

 most notoriously voracious fish in our fresh water ponds, and will 

 devour young ducks, geese, rats, serpents and frogs; they have an 

 amazing number of teeth, which they use in a scientific manner. 

 Tliese ferocious fish have become with me as docile as dogs, and 

 will assemble in numbers wlien the small fry are fed, to seize 

 upon them, which they accomplish in a masterly style. Some 

 naturalists declare, that this fish is of a spontaneous generation, 

 deriving its origin from a weed, known as the pickerel weed, and 

 that pickerel are only found where this weed is known to exist. 

 The fact probably is, that the weed, as well as the pickerel spawn 

 attached to it, are carried from pond to pond by the heron, or 

 some fish hawk, attached accidentally to their legs, or eaten as 

 food and ejected. 



I have studied their habits with great interest, and find they 

 retire in pairs, about the first of April, and after swimming 

 together, without touching each other, for a day or so, the female 

 deposits her spawn in shallow places, upon aquatic grass, and the 

 male following, fecundates them with milt, which he deposits over 

 them; after having completed this interesting operation, they pass 

 on, and give themselves no solicitude as to the future result of their 

 labors; but, when the small fry make their appearance, the parents 

 devour them with great gout and apparent satisfaction. I have 

 known a pickerel to swallow partially a fish too large for his 

 throat, and to carry it thus in his mouth until the portion swal- 

 lowed was digested; he will, likewise, eat poisonous substances 

 without injury to himself, having within him some antidote with 

 which to counteract its evil effects. They never swim in schools, 

 as many other fish do, but keep aloof from each other, and like to 

 be solitary and alone; they are not easily alarmed, and will never 

 run from a shadow, as most fish invariably will; they often stand 

 unmoved until I put my hand in the water, and will then dart at 

 it boldly, if in want of food. Their bite is almost as venomous 

 as that of a serpent, and very difficult to cure. Pickerel are par- 

 ticularly fond of frogs as food, but tlie frog always makes battle 

 when the pickerel approach, and will sometimes mount upon his 

 head, where they become very troublesome customers, placing 



