I took some initiative last week and adopted Piston as my project. What was the objective of this task? To get him to eat fish! For the five days I was working I was responsible for swimming Piston with a variety fish to see what would interest him the most or maybe even eat.
Piston had been outside overnight in the condos for about a week and the allure of being able to swim in his pool when he so chose to had rubbed off. He had become a little lazy and stayed hauled out pretty much all day. I wanted to change that. So on my Monday I got the tote ready by cleaning it, filling it, and preparing fish. I chose for him 1 small whole herring (dead) and 2 small live salmon. Once those fish were in the tote I got Piston from his condo and plunked him right into the water. I began with swimming Piston in a ¾ full tote, but he showed no interest in chasing the live fish. I decided to drop the water line to under ½ full to allow him to chase the salmon with greater ease. It worked! He became more active and was tracking the salmon like a pro. He decided to spare the lives of the salmon and I returned them to their holding tank.
On my Tuesday I went through the routine of setting up the tote for Piston once again. I was curious to see what size of fish he preferred so I decided to go with 1 small herring (dead), 1 large live salmon and 1 small live salmon. I kept the waterline below ½ full and tossed him in. We had rigged the tote with an agitator hose that would create a current and keep the dead fish moving. This also meant the tote needed to be a flow through system with the agitator pumping water in, water also needed to flow out so the tote didn’t overflow. Unfortunately we lost the small live salmon which Piston had shown the greatest interest in to the out flow drain. He then concentrated on the large live salmon and started tracking that one, but not as vigorously as he had with the small guy. All the while the dead herring went unnoticed.
My hump day got a little busy. We got a call from Petersburg about a seal pup and arrangements were made to fly it in to Anchorage that evening. Again it turned into a 2-for-1 deal and we had another pup flying in this one from Egegik. Most of that morning was spent putting aside chores and preparing the rescue truck and rehab itself for these two seals. I didn’t get the opportunity to swim Piston.
After looking at what Piston had responded to during his pervious swims I decided on using 1 small herring, one small live salmon, and 2 silversides for my Thursday swim. He was pretty active but not interested in the fish at all. I think I netted a retarded salmon. The fish wasn’t really moving like a fish should even before I put Piston in the tote. I think this was what attributed to this lack luster swim.
My Friday arrived and I gave Piston one more shot. I had a bit of trouble regulating the waterline for his swim and he ended up being in a ¾ full tote. I put in 1 live small salmon and a cut up herring. I lost the salmon yet again to the drain which directed Piston’s attention to the herring pieces. This was really great because he had been ignoring the herring all week long. He ended up nosing them for a bit. This meant he was pushing the fish along with his nose and would occasionally mash it into the side of the tote. He spent the rest of his time in the tote actively swimming and I had time to reflect on the week and his progress. He didn’t make much but I was still satisfied he was learning a little more everyday about tracking and making steps towards getting that fish in his mouth. It’ll just take practice and patience on our part.
Piston had been outside overnight in the condos for about a week and the allure of being able to swim in his pool when he so chose to had rubbed off. He had become a little lazy and stayed hauled out pretty much all day. I wanted to change that. So on my Monday I got the tote ready by cleaning it, filling it, and preparing fish. I chose for him 1 small whole herring (dead) and 2 small live salmon. Once those fish were in the tote I got Piston from his condo and plunked him right into the water. I began with swimming Piston in a ¾ full tote, but he showed no interest in chasing the live fish. I decided to drop the water line to under ½ full to allow him to chase the salmon with greater ease. It worked! He became more active and was tracking the salmon like a pro. He decided to spare the lives of the salmon and I returned them to their holding tank.
On my Tuesday I went through the routine of setting up the tote for Piston once again. I was curious to see what size of fish he preferred so I decided to go with 1 small herring (dead), 1 large live salmon and 1 small live salmon. I kept the waterline below ½ full and tossed him in. We had rigged the tote with an agitator hose that would create a current and keep the dead fish moving. This also meant the tote needed to be a flow through system with the agitator pumping water in, water also needed to flow out so the tote didn’t overflow. Unfortunately we lost the small live salmon which Piston had shown the greatest interest in to the out flow drain. He then concentrated on the large live salmon and started tracking that one, but not as vigorously as he had with the small guy. All the while the dead herring went unnoticed.
My hump day got a little busy. We got a call from Petersburg about a seal pup and arrangements were made to fly it in to Anchorage that evening. Again it turned into a 2-for-1 deal and we had another pup flying in this one from Egegik. Most of that morning was spent putting aside chores and preparing the rescue truck and rehab itself for these two seals. I didn’t get the opportunity to swim Piston.
After looking at what Piston had responded to during his pervious swims I decided on using 1 small herring, one small live salmon, and 2 silversides for my Thursday swim. He was pretty active but not interested in the fish at all. I think I netted a retarded salmon. The fish wasn’t really moving like a fish should even before I put Piston in the tote. I think this was what attributed to this lack luster swim.
My Friday arrived and I gave Piston one more shot. I had a bit of trouble regulating the waterline for his swim and he ended up being in a ¾ full tote. I put in 1 live small salmon and a cut up herring. I lost the salmon yet again to the drain which directed Piston’s attention to the herring pieces. This was really great because he had been ignoring the herring all week long. He ended up nosing them for a bit. This meant he was pushing the fish along with his nose and would occasionally mash it into the side of the tote. He spent the rest of his time in the tote actively swimming and I had time to reflect on the week and his progress. He didn’t make much but I was still satisfied he was learning a little more everyday about tracking and making steps towards getting that fish in his mouth. It’ll just take practice and patience on our part.
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