Go Fish!

Ranger Rick, August, 2001 by Cynthia Van Cleef

Look out below! It's time for lunch--and fish is on the menu.

FABULOUS FLYING ACE

Meet the skimmer. It hunts with a special fish finder--its lower beak. The tip of the beak cuts through the water's surface. When it hits a small fish--WHAM!--the bill snaps shut. Chow time!

SPLASH-N-CATCH

This kingfisher noticed its fishy target from high above and took aim. In a flash, it zoomed down, sliced through the water, and made the catch with its powerful bill. The judges' decision on this daring dive? A perfect 10!

FISH ON A STICK

This bird--an anhinga--swims after fish underwater. At just the right moment, it shoots out its long neck like a spring-loaded spear and stabs with its sharp beak. Gotcha!

Lots of animals go fishing for their food. And, as you'll discover, they all have different tricks for doing it.

For example, remember the wading bird on pages 2-3? That's an egret. When the sun shines on the water, the glare makes it hard for the egret to see below the surface. So the bird holds up its wings like an umbrella. That shades the water and cuts the glare. Then the egret can find its underwater prey.

DRAGNET

Hey, fishing isn't just for the birds! Some bats do it too. This fishing bat has super-big claws on its feet that are just right for snagging fish. When a fish is near the surface, the bat swoops down, grabs its take-out meal, and flies away to eat.

DEADLY DIVER

Uh-oh! A fish swam too close to the fishing spider above. With its feet on the water, the spider felt the ripples made by the fish. It quickly dived in and hauled up its prey. Some fishing spiders even use their feet as "bait." How? By wiggling them in the water or tapping them on the water's surface.

CAIMAN CRUNCH

The scaly creature at right is an alligator cousin called a caiman (KAY-mun). Caimans are big meat-eaters. And one of their favorite meals is fish--especially catfish and piranhas. This poor piranha is already toast. All it took was one quick snap of the caiman's jaws.

SNICK-SNACK SNAKE

How do snakes go fishing? For the garter snake at left, it helps to have sharp eyes--and a big mouth. An underwater flick of the tongue may even "taste" a nearby meal. Fish isn't always on a garter's menu. But if one turns up in the right place at the right time . . . grab, GULP!

THE STING'S THE THING

Oh, no . . . the colorful fish below swam too close to an anemone. Anemones are squishy ocean animals that usually stay put wherever they are. When a fish or some other small creature gets within reach, the anemone stings it with its tentacles. That keeps the meal still while the anemone swallows it up.

HERE, FISHIE-FISHIE

The anglerfish at left may live thousands of feet below the ocean's surface. It's a pitch-black world down there, but check out this bright idea: A built-in "fishing rod" sticks out from the angler's head. The fish twitches the glow-in-the-dark "lure" at the tip. Smaller fish swim over to investigate and--Whoops!--down the hatch.

Bet you can tell that the two girls at right are hooked on fishing! What about YOU?

Maybe someone in your family or neighborhood likes to fish. Why not ask to go along sometime?

There might even be some special fishing events coming up in your area. Check with a local fishing group or your local government's wildlife department. A librarian can help you find the information you need to get started. And for more tips, go to www.nwf.org/rangerrick and then click on this month's cover.

Big fish stories!

If you go fishing, tell us all about it. Send your adventures to Ranger Rick, Dept. FA; 11100 Wildlife Center Drive; Reston, VA 20190-5362. Or e-mail: rick@nwf.org. We'd love to see your photos or drawings too.

Now you go fishing too!