NANFA-- Late entry into the Pickerel discussion

Michael Wolfe (mwolfe_at_mindspring.com)
Sat, 27 Mar 2004 18:47:20 -0500

I know this is late and you mostly have addressed the issue, but just to toss in my personal experience...

A hungry red fin pickerel will take a recently dead feeder fish... Mine (from the Okefenokee II return to the swamp) had not had anything in a while (around here that can be a week plus). He saw me approach the tank and "knows" that I usually drop in feeders... so he came forward and was waiting for one... I dropped in one of the pet store rejects that had died... and he broke the surface of the water, practically catching the feeder before it hit the water... relatively loud noise, small splash and a big minnow eating grin on his face... then he looked up at me and wanted another one. After three he usually lets them swim around and rests. Then they start disappearing a few every day until he is all alone in his tank again.

Another prey item (or failed tank mate depending on how you look at it) was a trio of small crayfish that I though would make an excellent "clean up crew" for my rather messing eating friend (yes, sometimes he wounds things and then loses interest... particularly if there are other "moving targets"). They were cautious enough to last for several weeks (at least the largest of the three)... but eventually they made the wrong move and all I found of the big guy was claws.

Michael Wolfe
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