Page:The American Boy's Handy Book edition 1.djvu/80

But so celebrated had the frog become on account of his pluck and voracious appetite, that his obituary was published in several papers.

Craw-fish are very mischievous; they pull up the plants, upset the rockery, nip the ends off the fishes' tails, crack the mussel-shells, pull out the inmates and devour them, squeeze the caddice-worm from his little log-house, and, in fact, are incorrigible mischief-makers. But, from that very fact, I always keep one or two small ones. The other inhabitants of the aquarium soon learn to dread the pincer of these fresh-water lobsters, and keep out of the way. Tadpoles are always an interesting addition to an aquarium.

Pickerel and gars should be kept in an aquarium by themselves.

Pond-bass make very intelligent pets. I once had three hundred of these little fellows, perfectly tame. Down in one corner of the cornfield I found two patent washing-machines, the beds of which were shaped like scow-boats. These old machines were fast going to ruin, and I readily gained permission to use them for whatever purpose I wished; so, with a hatchet, I knocked off the legs and top-gear; then removed a side from each box, and fastened the two together, making a tank about four feet square. The seam, or crack, where the two parts joined, was filled with oakum, and the whole outside was thickly daubed with coal-tar. The tank was then set in a hole dug for that purpose, and dirt filled in and packed around the sides. Back of it I piled rocks, and planted ferns in all the cracks and crannies, and also put rocks in the centre of the tank, first covering the bottom with sand and gravel. After filling this with water and plants, three hundred little bass were introduced, and they soon became so tame that they would follow my finger all around, or would jump out of the water for a bit of meat held between the fingers. Almost any wild creatures will