TRAINING A FISH TO CATCH A CAT.

Mataura Ensign, Volume 7, Issue 386, 26 August 1884, Page 5

TRAINING A FISH TO CATCH A CAT.

." liyou want to see sport," said a lover., of animals to the ' New York Sun * reporter, i( watch that cat." The animal had stationed herself in the library door, and was look-ing intently into the room. In a few moments she began to walk slowly toward a large aquarium that stood in the window, and with a light leap mounted the narrow edjre. balancing herself over the water. Next she leaned down, thrust her red tongue into the miniature lake and began lapping the cooling water. Then came a rush, and a bright speckled object darted upward. A splash, a clicking, sucking sound, and a wail of feline anguish rose on the air. There was a second of wavering, aud a round bunch of hair fell into the water with a sounding splash, scrambled out again, aud disappeared through the door amid the laughter of the witnesses.

" That," said the host, "happens about every day, with only slight variations. You see, the fish, a sunfish, is perfectly tame— trained, in fact, to rise to my hand and take its food from me by leaping several inches out of the water. Being continually teased, the fish has acquired an irritable temper, and attacks everything that approaches the water. Home time ago the cat discovered the fish and leaped upon the tank as you have seen her do, putting her head down to the water. The moment her whiskers touched it the suntish had her and held on like a good one. She started back and fell on the floor, the iish dropping back. Tha next day she again made the attempt, and in balancing upon the side of the narrow rim her tail touched the water. The fish seized it, and in she went, but she never seems to learn. Just now the fish mistook her tongue for the meat I feed it with, and nipped it, well. You know it is sometimes said that fish cannot see what is going on out of water ; this fellow is an exception, however. Watch it now." 'I he speaker took a small piece of cloth and held it over the tank and within three feet of the Witter. In a moment the sharp-eyed and riehly-hued fish was at the surface. The rag was then lowered, and the prisouor leaped clear of its native element in its endeavors to reach it. The experimentalist n^xt placed his hands in the water, and the fish darted at them and passed through his lingers, allowing itself to be touched without, the slightest sign of fear. "The sun fishes," said the fish trainer, "are, I think, the most intelligent of all our fresh-water fishes. I train them to perform extraordinary leaps, such as jumping over a hurdle on the surface of the water, aud then over a series of them. You often see fishes in nature doing the same thing, I have trained my suufi>h so that it rings a bell suspended over the aquauum, but like Barnum's clown elephant, it rings it continually unless a supply of food is k<si>s up. The sunfish has its likes a.ud, dfelikcs, and it has two fast friq^da mi a pair of cattisb.es, Sar^e ti\«e ago I introduced a number o£ gold-fishes, and all but one were accepted in good fellowship. Toward this one unfortunate, that was one of the tripjutailed Japanese fishes, the suntish showed the greatest aversion, suen.din,g the. entire time in chasing jt avovutd the tanfci biting it in the most savage Qi^uucr, svud seemingly urging on the catfishes, who, though they would not touch the other fish:*, would cyeep sjyiy up to the viciim. fti)d x f-^i-VStna the fish, efing to it with I'oiaoity. I w.is obliged to take the poor lish out and place it in an adjoining taok, where the wry sight of it still enrage t the sunfish, and yet, as I said before, toward, the Americans it was perfectly fr\§n,e\ly."