That of the Small-mouth Bass, though 

 large, is less extensive, covering a terri- 

 tory "from Lake Champlain to Mani- 

 toba, and southward on both sides of 

 the Alleghanies to South Carolina and 

 Arkansas." These are the natural ranges 

 of the two species. They are able, how- 

 ever, to adapt themselves to great ex- 

 tremes of temperature and to adverse 

 conditions. For these reasons, their 

 ranges of distribution have been greatly 

 extended by introduction by human 

 methods into nearly every portion of the 

 United States where they were formerly 

 not a part of the fish fauna. They have 

 also been successfully introduced into 

 fresh waters of Europe. It is said that 

 after the introduction of Black Basses 

 into the waters of Utah, that in three 

 years they became so numerous that 

 thirty thousand pounds were caught and 

 marketed from one lake. 



Climate and food have much to do 

 with the rate of growth of the Black 

 Bass. Size is not a criterion of its age. 

 "At the age of five or six months the 

 young Bass measure from four to eight 

 inches, according to locality and sur- 

 roundings, though a certain percentage 

 of the crop will always run large." The 

 Commissioner of Fish and Fisheries 

 states that "Large-mouth Bass have been 

 known to weigh twenty-three pounds. 

 They are not infrequently taken from the 

 San Marcos River, Texas, weighing 

 from twelve to fifteen pounds, and a six- 

 pound or eight-pound Bass in the south- 

 ern tributaries of the Mississippi and in 

 the inland lakes of Florida excites no 

 surprise. The Small-mouth Bass does not 

 grow as large, two. and one-half pounds 

 probably exceeding their average size, 

 though they occasionally reach five or six 

 pounds." 



The Black Basses are exceedingly vo- 

 racious and are gluttonous feeders. They 

 will attack and devour not only minnows 

 and young fishes of other species, but 

 also smaller individuals of their own 

 kind. They also eat worms, crayfish, the 

 smaller mollusks, frogs and tadpoles. It 

 is also said on good authority that rats 

 and snakes, as well as vegetables, have 

 been found in their stomachs. In spite 

 of their voracious and somewhat canni- 

 balistic natures, the Black Basses are 



watchful parents, exhibiting, perhaps, 

 "the highest type among fishes of paren- 

 tal care, guarding their young until after 

 the dispersal of the school of fry." 



At the approach of the spawning sea- 

 son, the mated fish begin the preparation 

 of nests. "The nests are ordinarily built 

 in gravel, brushed into neat circular piles 

 from eighteen inches to three feet in di- 

 ameter, and are usually found in water 

 from eighteen inches to three feet deep, 

 though not infrequently in much deeper 

 water and sometimes in water less than 

 a foot in depth." In some localities, how- 

 ever, the Basses deposit their eggs on 

 mud. The eggs are visid and heavier 

 than water, so that as soon as they are 

 voided they sink and become attached to 

 the floor of the nest. Mr. William F. 

 Page, Superintendent of the Neosho, 

 Missouri, Station of the United States 

 Fish Commission, says : "Then com- 

 mences a parental watchfulness worthy 

 of imitation on the part of some higher 

 animals, one fish hovering immediatelv 

 over the nest and maintaining a gentle 

 motion of the fins for the purpose of 

 keeping the eggs free from sediment, and 

 the other acting as an outer sentinel, pa- 

 trolling eight or ten feet away. Both 

 male and female show great courage 

 when guarding their eggs and young 

 frv." But as soon as the little fishes be- 

 gin to leave the home nest, the parental 

 solicitude leaves the older ones and the 

 young must seek shelter not only from 

 their foes, but also from their own par- 

 ents, who do not hesitate to devour their 

 new-born offspring. 



Dr. G. Brown Goode has said : "Anv 

 one who has seen these fishes feeding 

 must have been impressed with their im- 

 mense power of movement. They soon 

 become masters of the waters in which 

 they are placed. Sunfish, perch, trout, 

 young salmon, and even the ravenous 

 pickerel, are doomed. They feed at the 

 surface on moths, flies and frogs ; thev 

 turn over stones in search of insect- 

 larvae and crawfish, to which they are 

 very partial. The angler finds them, at 

 the proper seasons, equally eager for fly- 

 hook, trolling-spoon, or still-bait, and al- 

 ways ready for a struggle which puts his 

 rod and line to an extreme test. Their 

 leaps are almost as powerful as those of 



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