122 THE COMMON EEL. 



clean it, great numbers of large eels were found in 

 the mud. In the stomachs of many of them were 

 found, undigested, the heads and part of the bodies 

 of the victims *. 



Eels seldom come out of their hiding-places but 

 in the night, during which time they are taken with 

 lines that have several baited hooks.— In winter 

 they bury themselves deep in the mud, and, like the 

 Serpent tribe, remain in a state of torpor ; and they 

 are so impatient of cold as eagerly to take shelter in 

 a whisp of straw fiung into a pond in severe wea- 

 ther. This has sometimes been practised as a mode 

 of catching them f. 



Eels are viviparous — They are so tenacious of 

 life that their parts will continue to move for a 

 considerable time after they are skinned and cut 

 into pieces ; and no other fish whatever will live so 

 long out of the water as these. They are best in 

 season from May to July ; but may be caught with 

 a line till September. When the water is thick 

 with rains, they may be fished for during the whole 

 day ; but the largest and best are caught by night- 

 lines. The baits are wasp-grubs, or dew-worms, 

 minnows, or gudgeons. 



Note to Walton, 181. + Penn. Brit. Zool. iii. 143. 



