Observations re: aquatic animal behavior

[jackkelley]

I had this squirrel once that would come and sit in achair beside me and take peanuts out of my hand. She got so use to me feedingher every day that if I didn't come out at a certain time she would come up andknock on the screen door. And when I would come to the door she would run backto the chair and wait for me to come feed her. Animals learn and know afriendly face. I also had little puffer fish in a 10g tank that would come tothe side of the tank when I came near but would run and hide when my wife orkids went neat the tank. They knew who fed them by sight.

[Spoonminnow]

but would run and hide when my wife orkids went neat the tank.

Funny!
I forgot to mention that when many decent size bass lived in the pond that at a certain hour in the afternoon I would pull the bass boat alongside the shore. I would take panfish out of the livewells and throw them to a line of bass waiting to be fed. Waited 5 minutes after all the commotion of feeding and a new line would form. If I did the same thing much earlier or later, no bass would feed near me. Same learned behavior with the positive stimulus being fish vs bread balls. (Too bad all the fish died after a mass winterkill from ice too thick and an average height of 3'-4' of snow.)

[Ketchn]

almost all species much like ourselves respond to free food in a similar fashion .
bass will sometimes take dry food even though it is said they wont .
some of the best spots to ketch fish are where people feed ducks .
fish cleaning stations are a buffet as well .
bread was my go to bait as a young person .
and finally this ....
if you slip and fall while feeding the fish its called "meals without wheels "

[Ketchn]

when i was a kid i got given a quarter once a week , a gallon of gas was 15 cents and a loaf a bread was 10 cents .
the gas was to mow the yard and then i was allowed to go ketch fish

[Alphahawk]

I spent 21 years working in Saudi......and all but 3 of those years fishing either the Persian Gulf or the Red Sea. When I was in Jubail on a remote assignment I would start my day at the dining facility having breakfast and picking up about 5 dozen small rolls the cook would make for me every morning. After work I would head out to my fishing spot and stay until dark. The Silvery Black Sea Bream loved those roles....catches were off the charts. On the Red Sea side we would hit “Mashi” season.....which is the time when red snapper spawn.....just off the edge of the reef. We only took treble hooks and a 50 gallon trash bag filled with huge dinner roles for bait. Put the role on the treble, cast out.....and hang on. During Mashi, catches of 100 snapper a day were common.....20-30 pound fish. New arrivals who asked us to take them fishing thought we were joking when we told them the only bait needed was dinner roles....but they soon caught on...LOL.

Regards


Sent from my iPad using Crappie.com

[Spoonminnow]

Incredible what animals will eat and more so what they look forward to eating. My two dogs look forward daily to catching slices of raw carrots thrown to them followed by tomato pieces. Mashed potatoes - gone in a second. What is it with animals and starch/sugar? I still can't over the turtles that come running when they sense fish are going nuts for tiny bread balls.

[Ketchn]

our pet tree frogs know that when the top moves on their terrarium its dinner time .
they look like they are just sitting around not paying attention .
until the lid moves

[ecoast]

look at how trained the fish/turtles get:

The Fish Whisperer - YouTube

[Spoonminnow]

Amazing footage ! Just goes to show you that food (or any other) objects don't have to be submerged in water for animals to attack or feed.
It's possible my 3 turtles might one day take bread from my fingers. I find it amazing that a turtle sunning on a shore 60' away will jump into the
water and come over or turtles nowhere in sight will all of a sudden pop their heads up 20' away and then crawl on shore to be fed tiny bits of bread.
One thing of interest - turtles take off fast when I stand whereas none of the 30 or so fish move an inch.

[ClearCreek]

The Fish Whisperer video shows why circle hooks work well on catfish. The catfish grabs the shad and immediately turns its head to the side. If there was a circle hook in the shad the hook would be embedded in the corner of the catfish's mouth.

ClearCreek