Прыгоды з жыцця прыроды
Adventures from the life of nature
Вячаслаў Грамыка
Для сярэдняга школьнага ўзросту
Выдавец: Беларусь
Памер: 263с.
Мінск 2003
Time passed quickly. The summer heat gave way to the pleasant Autumn coolness. Then the fish gradually started to feel the genuine cold. The cat-fish decided that it would be best to wait about the cold on the very bottom. They pushed their way into deep holes under steep clay river banks, where they could hide from winter visitors — fishermen. They lay on the bottom and dug out whole trenches up to one meter deep and then, choosing the most suitable place, fell into winter sleep. Nearby, other cat-fish dug in and also lied down for their “winter break”.
Later, with the onset of real cold other fish found refuge in the silt that covered the cat-fish: crucians, gudgeons, wild carps.
The young cat-fish of that year weighed up to half a kilogram by Autumn. They didn't sleep very soundly. From time to time they woke up, but did not dare to leave their refuge and switch to active hunting. The elders slept very soundly. The cat-fish convinced himself of this, when once an old cat-fish, which slept right against the river bank was accidentally caught by a farmers' boat-hook, which they used to push barrels containing cucumbers to store under the ice. At this time the little cat-fish was dozing himself, but woke up in time, aroused by unexpected strong splashes. The old cat-fish was in such a state of winter numbness that the people, without difficulty, dragged him towards themselves, upwards, intending to drag him onto the river bank.
The little cat-fish fussed around his helpless elder fellow cat-fish in a fluster and was exhausted with shame. At this time, some cruel human thrust a pitchfork into the hole in the ice so as to stab the helpless fish and throw it on the shore.
But here the little cat-fish realized what had to be done. He gathered speed and hit the older cat-fish straight in the eye with his lips. Some other time, he would have to pay heavily. This time, however, it was the only way out. The old cat-fish instantly woke up from the sharp pain, violently flapped with all his body and without great difficulty broke free from the boat-hook and swam into the depth. However, a transverse laceration was left on his body, but nothing disastrous. It ought to heal up quickly under a fatty layer of skin.
The remaining period of that winter passed luckily, with no further adventures. The cold on the surface could still remain for some time, but at the bottom there was a fairly certain possibility that this could be avoided and the little cat-fish dozed on without worries. There is time for everything — to rest and to hunt — where it is appropriate.
And Then Spring Came
Spring in all its glory came unexpectedly. Suddenly it got warm and deep snow started to thaw literally in front of one's eyes, merrily greeting with its resonant voice the routine waking of nature from its winter sleep.
The ice on the river swelled, gathered in the middle in a cluster that impeded the strong current of thawed water. In the end it couldn't withstand the force and, cracking in several places, started to break up into separate lumps.
Sensing the freshness and warmth of the thawed spring water the cat-fish also woke up from their deep winter sleep. Most of the fish rose from the quiet deep. Roach began to move around, pike started to hunt and golden and silver crucians moved off to their spawning places.
Chubs started to lay spawn on shallow rifts. Here, everyone has its own tricks. A chub lays its spawn in portions and whilst one portion is pecking its way out, a chub can take care of its young offspring. It is necessary to save them from enemies and teach them subtleties of life. Umbers also have their offspring at this time. A female of the species spawns in early spring, sometimes at the end of winter, laying a large quantity of
spawn. But this spawn isn't secured in any way. Much of it is washed away by waves to the edge of overflow and die. When water subsides, a lot of spawn perish. A good deal of spawn is eaten by predators, especially perch, ruff an dragonfly grubs. For this reason, these fish have to lay plenty of “spare” spawn in order to ensure survival of the species. With a very large quantity of spawn there's a better chance that at least a small amount will survive — everyone adopts as it can in the struggle for existence.
Cat-fish didn't seem to hurry with spawning. They started the winter hibernation much earlier than other fish and, as a result of such a long “fast”, were noticeably weakened. For this reason they have to gather strength. At this time, cat-fish could barely move their fins and should offspring appear, what then? So cat-fish started to feed actively. At first they ate anything they met, mostly weakened and dead small fish. But when they became a little stronger and felt more confident, they started to go upstream against the current. They swam into shallow holes and backwaters, moved around, enjoyed the warmth, but the main thing was to feed as much as possible. After all, there's about a month to go between waking up and the time of spawning.
In most cases grown-up cat-fish hunt by ambushing. Having settled down somewhere under a steep bank, a cat-fish freezes on the spot until another fish comes up close. Then the cat-fish would burst out from the spot and seize its prey like lightning. If the victim turns out to be sufficiently strong, the cat-fish, turning sharply, would hit the victim with its fins and thus stun it. After this, the stunned fish would be an easy prey.
Cat-fish hunted for small fish in a different way. They went to the shallows and waited near the bank where there was plenty of fry and small fish. A cat-fish lies motionless, slightly opening its wide jaw, patiently observing how in these shallow water small ruff, roach and other fish frolic. When these get quite close the plunderer quickly sucks a large quantity of water into itself, seizing with it a large number of unlucky ruffs or similar small fish.
Young cat-fish so far stayed close to the adults taking over from them the experience of complex independent life. But
when the time of spawning came, the adult cat-fish became aggressive and didn't let the younger generation approach. They painfully struck out with their tails and at other times bit with their sharp teeth.
Our little cat-fish also fell foul of his father. He even got very offended and decided to keep his distance. Now he fed independently and watched how the older cat-fish behaved, trying to guess the cause of such unfriendliness and severity.
With each passing day adult cat-fish became more and more dangerous. They were so viscous and malicious that, it seemed, for them it was all the same who was in front of them — strangers or relatives.
But you could understand them. The time had come, when like other fish, the cat-fish had to take care of their future and produce a new generation, of which not many will survive the severe business of the struggle for existence in the wild.
The water was warm by now. Its temperature was already favorable for spawning. Females descended to the bottom of holes dug in the sand together with the males. They cleaned out the bottom of the holes again and then, right here, they laid lots of spawn. This was as far as their motherly worries went and all the future troubles of protecting the young were taken upon by the males themselves. Three days and three nights they guarded the spawn not only from other predatory fish (perch, ruff, trout), but also from being swept away by the current.
Soon the roe grains started to move and turn. Then, in the same way that a chick gets out of an egg, tiny living creatures started to hatch one after the other — they were nothing else but small young cat-fish.
After the appearance of the small cat-fish the behavior of the adults changed noticeably. They gradually became less aggressive. Our young cat-fish could now go back to his family, which has moved after spawning back to where they lived before.
Small cat-fish followed their father. Gradually these were joined by yearlings and two-year-olds from the same family. The whole multiplicity of the family once again was united under the dependable protection of the father. They could rest and hunt together again.
After several days the numerous shoals of cat-fish swam downstream. Having spawned and hatched the progeny in the upper reaches of the river, they, together with the young ones, strove towards the leng-awaited deep places — their real habitat.
During the time of migration they were in need of much food. For this reason, these seasoned inhabitants of water expanses had to “tighten their belts” a bit. Temporary newcomers behaved restrained but nothing could be done — you couldn't argue with the masters. In the deep you feel more confident, just like in your own “home”, but until then you are not treated as a master. That period of migration didn't last long, though, that severe cat-fish disappeared as suddenly as he appeared and the locals breathed a sigh of relief.
The smallest of the young kept near their parents and were constantly under their protection. The yearlings and two-yearolds lived already an independent life and rarely visited their family. Bigger cat-fish have left their former families for good. Many of them were now getting ready to start their own families.
By autumn it was already hard to recognize our little cat-fish. He now weighed about a kilogram and was practically indistinguishable from adult ones. His body became even more flattened and the fins increased greatly. The coloring of the upper and lower parts of his body differed. His back became still darker and assumed the characteristic dark brown shade, sometimes — with alternate dark, completely dark patches and lighter parts with oddly shaped stripes and spots. Only his sides retained a lighter shade with a mixture of green and even dark blue colors emphasizing this big fish's mystique.
The reddish side “whiskers” on the upper side of the jaws became noticeably longer and had turned into large outgrowths. The surprising unusual appearance of this fish was enhanced also by two brown shorter outgrowths on the lower lip, which were similar to those on the upper jaw.
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