72 Union Bay 



would persist until alterations were drastic enough to affect 

 completely the characteristics of the area. 



I should like to have followed the fortunes of these catfish 

 and to have observed their part in this remarkable food 

 chain where tiny animals feed upon tiny plants, larger ones 

 on smaller ones, thus building up creatures such as frogs and 

 small fish each of which can take, as it pleases, its choice of 

 food from a lengthy list of smaller and weaker members of 

 the community. But they, in turn, become a part of the bill 

 of fare. These frogs and our catfish, dominant over many 

 forms, are dominated by others in the ascending scale. Bass 

 raid the tangles where the smaller forms hide, but the bass 

 are not safe from the fast-swimming otters and minks. 



When I consider the apparent ruthlessness of this living 

 bill of fare, the changing position of the participants in the 

 program appears as a balancing factor. The tiny catfish from 

 the very start were at once predators and prey. They were 

 at the mercy of many living things, even of dragonflies and 

 predacious insects of other species, but they, in turn, could 

 prey upon microscopic animals. Without exception, and re- 

 gardless of the final size of the creature, its young is subject 

 to attack, often by animals which, when the young attain 

 maturity, would be preyed upon by them. Predation is not 

 necessarily by larger creatures: ants and lice are quite capa- 

 ble of killing a whole brood of nestlings, even of the fiercest 

 of hawks. An injured bird, which would survive if left alone, 

 loses its standing in the predator list, and usually becomes the 

 prey of some enemy conscious of its weakness. 



Although this is hardly a scientific observation, I cannot 

 help thinking that, as a lunchroom, the marsh is operated 

 on a unique but extraordinary plan. The living patrons exist 

 indirectly and sometimes directly on vegetation, and on each 

 other. The species seem to follow the principle, "It is all right 

 for you to eat some of us if we can eat some of you." It is 

 amazingly simple. If the population of any species gets too 



