male salmon. Their lower jaws become 
sharper and sharper, and finally both 
jaws become strongly hooked. The front 
teeth grow sharper and longer, often a 
half-inch long. Sometimes their mouths 
cannot even be closed because of these 
teeth. 
SPAWNING 
When they have gone far enough, each 
father and mother salmon choose a place 
for their nest in quick flowing water, 
about one to four feet deep. Then with 
tail and nose the father digs a furrow in 
the stony river bed, like the furrow a 
farmer makes with his plow in the 
ground. 
For the next few days the mother 
salmon is very busy. Usually she lays 
about nine to ten hundred eggs for each 
pound of her own weight. If she weighs 
ten pounds, there may be ten thousand 
eggs. She must lay a great number 
because many will be lost. Some will 
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