lambintasyshuns of buddy don: alas poor killer

tuther crawdads in the tank has all dun been over whut wuz left of killers exoskelton, takin apart the bits they could use, leavin only the hardest parts of his brite blue claws. ever so often, one of em gits a hold of a claw n takes it a wee bit more out of it.

we figgerd killer mite coulda molted, witch once them crawdads has molted, they git to hidin whar ye caint tell ifn thar thar or not. so we reckund the same could be true of killer.

on tuther hand, we had dun red (caint find it now!) that the males tend to die after matin n kin live only fer about two years, so i caint ackshly eggspeck innythang differnt, but tiz a shame to see such a magnificent creechur go down.

rip, killer, we shore enjoyd havin ye in our tank (witch, when ye thank bout it, hes still more or less thar).

corse, he leaves behind a slew of his yunguns. i counted six of em rootin round fer food when i fed em this mornin. i reckun we need to git em sum new blood since they will mate with each other, even bruthers n sisters or muthers n suns (miss tenna is still thar n seems lack rl, the biggest yungster, wonts to git her pinnd down by her claws, witch thats how they mate).

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pitchers tuck by buddy don: new method fer gittin pitchers of them critters

i aint putt no pitchers of them critters that lives (n dies -- theys a contentchuss bunch) in our aquarium on a counta thonly way i could git em to show up wuz to use a flash. thang bout that wuz how them fish dint lack that flash atall.

i also been playin round with a lens me n miz bd gut a while back, witch tiz a 10-22 mm, a verr wide angull at the bottom end. so tuther day i tuck a pitcher of one of them fish n it cum out all dark. so i changed the iso till twuz up to 800 n set the shutter speed at 1/60 of a second, witch tiz hard to git em to be much moren a blur thataway, but the wide angull is a verr fergivin lens.

we know we will be missin them critters, witch i gut a yungun name of tony thats a'gone be droppin by to check on em while we are gone. he will be a'goin to the weddin, but he wont be thar but a day or two.

furst up is killer, the daddy n grandaddy of nigh onto 20 crawdads thats dun bin born in the tank so fer. (miz tenna, the mama n grandmama woodnt cum out fer a pitcher on a counta she wuz moltin.)

ye kin see whar the algae has dun growd up on his back, witch thats they easiest way to tell whuther one of em has dun molted on a counta how they cum out so clean whenever they have thar new bidy on em ...



as ye kin see, killer goes wharever he wonts to. here hes climbin up on one of the tanks prize spots, that thar jug (thays a crawdad that lives under it name of jughed, witch he woodnt cum out fer no pitchers neethur ...



this nextn is a pitcher of a crawdad name of moon on a counta he or she lacks to live in sum thangs thay call moonrocks whenever they sell em to ye ...



heres a pitcher of ups, witch hes the number two fish in the tank ... the number one fish, kane, woodnt let me git no good pitchers of im on a counta he wuz too busy harrassin everbidy else ...



but i did git a lil pitcher of im swimmin in frunt of the camra whenever i wuz trine to git a nuther shot of killer ... ye kin tell he is the boss by how blue his mouth is, witch thats how sum of them speshees lets ye know who is the boss ...



we will miss em n hope they kin make it till we git back frum ireland ... n we hope to post a heap in heppin of pitchers ifn we kin git access whenever we are over thar.

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pitchers tuck by buddy don: the tank, the hole tank n nuthin but the tank

i aint felt lack botherin them critters a nuff to git sum new pitchers of them crawdads, witch thay must be ten or twenty of em by now. tiz hard to tell on a counta them moltin, witch they lacks to bury tharself whenever they do that. but heres the hole tank fer a change ...



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reeports of buddy don: up date on the tank

sum of ye that reads this here blog reglar knows me n miz bd gut us a tank of fish n other critters. i aint reeported much on it lately, so heres a lil update of whuts been happenin.

furst, them crawdads has been multiplyin lack nobidys bizzness. thays at lease 8 liluns, witch thar almos impossibull to git into a pitcher on a counta they keep alive by hidin mos all the time.

secunt, it appears that thays more on the way.

nuther innterestin thang is how killer (the big crawdad with the brite blue claws) went fer weeks after the furst liluns wuz born without hardly movin nor nuthin, even tho he wudnt moltin. then he run into one of his own liluns n ever since hes been all over the tank, kindly lack he wuz a'lookin fer a fite with one of em. thar too smart to git too close.

but that dont mean thar too smart to keep away frum them cichlids. tuther mornin we woke up n seen a big fish that look lack it had sumthin verr rong with its mouth (more on that problem in a mint). turnt out to be the last bits of the tail of one of them crawdads. caint say fer shore ifn twuz a live one or maybe the molt of one that had dun lef its shell behind.

finely thay wuz a big ole fite in the tank twixt big red, who hes been the big fish of the tank fer nigh onto a year, n bluemouth, a yunger fish that had growd up so big that it could challenge red. thang wuz, they gut into a face to face, mouth to mouth fite, n bluemouth cum out with a verr disfiggerd face while red cum out with a bit of clown mouth (a white circle round the mouth). they gut to ailin till finely bofem died of thar wounds on the verr same day. me n miz bd hadnt never seen nunthin lack that happen befor.

corse, as ye mite eggspeck, thays a new big fish thats makin sum of the lilns hide ...

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legendairy fish of buddy don: bidshicka, RIP

lack all big fish of the tank, he wuz a bully, but he wuz also the smartest mbuna we ever seen or heard tell of. but he had dun led a ruff life n it gut sos he could barely wake up frum playin ded. i reckun that happens to everbidy sooner of later ... we will miss ye, bidshicka!


bidshicka, RIP
2000-2006

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legendairy fish of buddy don: r.i.p., cutty shark

bout a year or so ago, me n miz bd gut a cuple new fish fer our tank. they breed lack crazy so ye gut to add a lil new blood ever so often to keep yer tank healthy. we gut a few of em, but one of thonly ones that survived wuz a beeyootiful fish that wuz bout the orange color of a cutty sark label. generly when ye see a africun cichlid with such a brite color, tiz a male, witch we figgerd twuz so with cutty.

cutty dint cum out much n we wuznt sure she had survived atall, witch lots of the new fish ye putt into a tank wont make it past the furst week or so. when she finely did cum out, ye could see she had her a mouthfull of lil fishes, witch me n miz bd calls that 'pouched' on a counta how it looks lack the mother fish has a pouch under its mouth. inside that pouch is whar them lil fry grow till thar big a nuff to live outside thar mamas mouth, out in the tank.

we had jes had a skool of fry let out by a nuther mama fish name of esther. she had three of em that survived. after she had let em out, they wuz a'gittin big. thar father wuz a fish name of lucky n lucky had tuck over as big fish of the tank. i tole the story bout how bidshicka survived lucky taken over by playin ded here.

innywho, lucky gut to whar he woodnt hardly leave esther alone till she finely turnt on im n killt im. we have dun witnessed that kinda thang three or four times now, meanin whar a mama fish kills that father of her fry. this time twuz differnt. we aint shore who fatherd all them fry that cum frum cutty, but it seemed lack the hole tank turnt on cutty n hounded her to death, literully to death. tuther mornin we found her batterd bidy a'floatin at the top of the tank.

we shore hated to see her go. miz bd wood talk to her n root fer her n make shore she wuz eatin, but tuther fish kep her chased into a corner whar she couldnt hardly do nuthin. they had dun et off most of her caudel fin (tail) so she couldnt hardly git away whenever they cum to pick on her.

but in a way, cutty gut the last laff: at lease fifteen of her fry has survived, mayhap more on a counta tiz verr hard to count a bunch of movin fish. but tiz a nuff to say thays more 'cuttlets' (as we call em) in that thar tank than inny other kind. so she has dun lef behind a grate legacy.

r.i.p., cutty shark!

legendairy fish of buddy don: bidshicka

a while back i writ a lil item bout a tank of cichlids i been keepin since 1994, witch that articull wuz bout a fish name of brownie. thays a nuther fish that deeserves a few wurds on a counta how hes dun pulled off sum tricks me n miz bd aint never seen befor.

tiz a blue pseudotropheus acei name of bidshicka, witch we gut the fish rite befor 9/11 happend n miz bds son give it the name of bidshicka, witch thats the name of a roma (witch that means gypsy) leader ye kin read bout in this book name of bury me standin. whenever bidshicka wuz a'gittin named, he wuz a tinyy lil thang n twuznt sartin twood make the transishun to the new tank. it tuck im a lease a year, but in the end, bidshicka wuz the big fish in the tank. heres a pitcher of im when he wuz yunger n tuffer:



bidshicka tuck over top fish of the tank frum a fish name of agnew, witch he wuz a yeller fish that dint stay top fish fer verr long. heres a pitcher of him:



jes to show ye how they could git along befor agnew died, heres a pitcher of em bof checkin out the fotogruffer:



far as we kin tell, ye kin keep a cichlid alive fer about four years. thats the oldest we been able to keep one. so bout a year ago, after agnew had dun been dispatched, twuz no big sprize to see bidshicka down, witch seems lack whenever they die frum ole age, they git to whar they jes quit trine n lie down n dont git back up.

i hollerd to miz bd that it looked lack bidshicka wuz dun fer on a counta how he wuz a'lyin in a corner on the bottom n not movin a fin. yet whenever it cum time to feed, thar wuz bidshicka makin shore he gut the mos.

so twuz a odd thang to see, a fish that played dead. yet he did it mos ever chants he gut. he had im a place whar he wood lie n ye could see how he wuz a'doon it on purpose. whut wuz speshly weird bout it wuz how bidshicka kep his place as top fish in the tank. so twuz fer well over a year.

then thay cum sum kinda power struggle n a peach colord fish name of lucky tuck over. so we figgerd this time, bidshicka wuz a'gone half to die on a counta we aint never seen a top fish lose his place as top fish without dyin in jes a few days. shore a nuff, lucky did his bes to beat bidshicka up, nippin at his tail n even gittin sum bites in along his sides.

but bidshicka used his abilty to play dead to git lucky to leave im alone n we figgered twuz a bit of behavyer we aint never seen befor. durin this time, we had a fish name of esther, witch lucky mated with esther n they had em a set of fry that included three survivers, witch thats bout average.

but we gut a nuther cuple fish includin one we called 'new blue' on a counta how he looked lack bidshicka only smaller, n a nuther fish we named 'cutty shark' on a counta how it wuz bout the color of the orange part of a cutty sark label. cuttys color aint lack no othern we ever had, so we wuz happy bout havin im ...

... till one day we noticed how cutty had a pouch, witch that means cutty wuz a female that had mated (with 'new blue' as it turnt out). we waited n waited to see the lil 'cutlets,' as we called the fry frum cutty. whut a bunch of fish! bes we kin deetermine (and tiz verr hard to count em), cutty dun dropped sumwhars twixt 10 n 17 fish into the tank.

whenever yer numbers go up lack that n the lil ones git to whar they aint a'fraid to cum out, ye kin see the stress of havin so minny new fish in the tank. sumtimes thatll git the top fish to fitin.

thats kindly whut we eggzpecked, but thangs wuz differnt. this time we watched sumthin we dun seen a time of two, witch thats how esther, the female fish that had mated with lucky, deecided twuz time to take lucky out. we seen this three times at lease: a female fish name of trumbley killt the male name of geronimo when geronimo gut to attackin the lil fish. we seen a fish name of jeanie killt a verr mean fish name of pol pot. in them cases, the female killt the male with a sangle vishus attack.

but twuz odd to see esther chasin lucky round since lucky is bout twice her size. but he wuz runnin n we saw her take such a hard bite outta his side that the scales begun to float in the water. within a cuple hours, lucky lay upside down on the bottom of the tank, witch they dont survive that posishun fer verr long.

so i tuck luckys bidy out n flushed it down the toilet. meanwhile, thars bidshicka, givin a lil chase to the new blue (secunt strongest fish lef). once new blue went to hide, bidshicka swum over to his favert place n settled in fer a nap, lookin fer all the worl as ifn he wuz dead.

but he warnt. we aint never seen this kinda change befor, witch tiz nice to see new thangs in a tank thats near 11 years ole! corse, thays all them lil cutlets to watch . . . twill be innerestin once one of the males gits big a nuff to challenge eethur bidshicka or new blue.

legendairy fish of buddy don: brownie

i been keepin a tank of africun cichlids since 1993, witch i gut started a'keepin em after a roommate killt all the fish in a communty tank of typicull tropicull fish -- tetras, betas, angels n such. after them fish wuz killt off by that sick friend, i deecided twuz time to change the kinda fish i wuz a'keepin (n time to git rid of that roommate, witch thats a long tale thatll git tole tords the end of that novel, life n pinions of buddy don, hillbilly).

over the years of keepin cichlids n watchin em with grate keer, i dun larnt lots bout em. thays a innerestin bunch of fish to keep in a tank on a counta how (1) they dont use color fer camaflodge, witch that means they kin git verr brite colors on em, (2) they cum frum the rift lakes of africa, eethur lake tangangyeeka or malawi, witch them lakes has water flowin in but no way fer it to flow out ceptn by eevaporayshun n that means them fish kin take it ifn the water qualty gits a lil compromised n finely (3) they gut em a verr innerestin soshul struckchur that makes em fun to watch n larn bout.

corse, ye dont start out knowin much, so whut i dun wuz to git five melanochromis vermivorus whenever they wuz young n putt em in a 30 gallon tank. ifn i hadda knowed better, i never wooda put so minny into such a small tank, but i dint know much of nuthin bout em then. i also dint real eyes how i had picked one of the most agressive kinds.

so whut happend wuz whut ye coulda perdickted ifn ye knew a lil moren i did, witch is how once them fish started in to growin, purty soon the males wuz all riled bout how small thar livin quarters wuz. i had dun larnt bout how them cichlids wuz smart a nuff to wurk together on a counta how i had me a lil turtle name of tortuga that wuz in the tank n whenever it started gittin lil white spots on its back, i tride to figger whut wuz rong with it. tuck me a while to figger how twuz them cichlids a'doon it, all five of em, swimmin in fomrayshun frum behing that turtle a'takin turns bitin at them spots. so i gut the turtle outta thar n tuck to watchin them cichlids.

twernt hardly no time atall till two of em wuz the biggest. whenever i furst bought em, they wuz yaller with a horizontull black stripe down long thar side. but when they gut a lil older, one of em turnt brown n a nuthern turnt black. i named em brownie n blackie. frum the time thar colors started in to changin, them two fish wuz in a battle lack ye aint never seed befor. furst they wood take turns pointin thar mouth at tutherns anal fin n switchin posishuns as ifn to say to each other, 'ye aint gut the guts to bite me.' frum thar, they tuck to chasin each other round in lil circles to whar ye couldnt tell witchn wuz a'gittin chased nor witch wuz a'doon the chasin.

corse, they tricked up the tank to whar they had em sum hidin places, witch they lacks to 'aqua-scape' thar tanks by suckin up the gravel from the tank n spittin it out in a nuther place till they git em a hole dug n a lil barrier bilt. tiz amazin how they make a home fer tharself.

purty soon they gut to fitin mouth to mouth, witch thats whar one or tuther of em is a'gone git hurt n lackly killt, n fack is, after battlin fer days, brownie finely killt blackie. he drug the carcass of the dead fish into a lil place he had made fer hisself in a ole pot i had stuck in the tank n whenever i went to remove the dead bidy, he attacked me n made me wait one day, witch once the bidy gut to rottin, seem lack brownie couldnt push it out quick a nuff. after that twuznt but two fish left, jes brownie n a nuther fish i give the name of trumbly.

i wuz a'livin in inwood on the island of man hattan at the time. inwood is as far north on the island as ye kin git, witch tiz a nayborhood whar mos everthang on the west side of broadway is ole irish n mos everthang on the east side is dominicans. twuz a verr nice place to liv only ye had to spend a hour n ten minuts each way a'gittin to wurk in midtown man hattan, witch thats the part jes south of centrull park. i tuck a noshun twuz time fer me to move down to midtown n save myself a good cuple hours commutin everday. i also figgerd twuz time to git me a bigger tank, witch i bought a 155 gallon monster fer that.

fer a lil while, i had bofem apartments at the same time. i gut the new tank all set up n let the water git to settin lack it needs to do befor ye stick inny fish in it n kep the lil tank uptown in inwood. i lef the lites off n gut back to feed them fish ever two or three days, witch that tank wuz a'sittin on the bare floor in a corner of my ole bedroom, but quick as i cum in the room, i could see brownie a'watchin me. by this time, he wuz dark brown with a lite stripe down his side.

finely twuz time, so i putt brownie n trumbly in a bucket of thar own water n lugged em over to the subway n rode downtown with em. my new apartment wuznt much, a lil railroad car lack place on 9th avenue at 56th street in a nayborhood sum say used to be called hells kitchen n sum say never wuz but witch they wuz a'callin it clinton by then innywho (not after the presdent by that name). i had cum up with a way of fittin that huge tank in thar, witch twuz six foot long n three foot high n two foot deep n a'sittin up on a stand to whar twuz as tall as me (bout six feet). i pored in sum of the water frum the tank into the bucket n kep at it till i figgerd twoodnt be too much of a shock fer them fish to go into the new tank n once i dun that, in they went.

twuz one of the mos amazin thangs i ever observed. trumbly wuz a female tho i dint know it at the time n furst thang she dun wuz to go hide. she wuz still mosly yaller. but brownie swum up n down that tank lack twuz natcherull fer im to have a big tank lack that. i watched im n as i did, he gut to turnin color till he wuz dark purple with a bright blue-purple stripe whar the black stripe used to be, kindly lack this pitcher.

i stocked the tank with other cichlids, even buyin a nuther of them same melanochromis vermivorus, witch twuz tiny whenever i bought it, but when it gut to puberty, it turnt real mean. i named thatn geronimo. innywho, brownie n trumbly mated n trumbly had her a mouthfull of lil fish fer bout a munth befor she let em out. twuz a sad thang on a counta how geronimo made it his bizness to eat as minny of em as he could git. brownie could chase geronimo down, but he couldnt be everwhar all the time, so one by one, them lilns gut to disappearin. brownie even tuck one into his mouth rite after twuz let outta trumbleys n swum up n down the tank n then let it out agin, witch i though he wuz a'gone eat his own chile, but he dint. geronimo tuck keer of that.

thay wuznt no questchun bout who wuz the big fish in that tank: twuz brownie, period. he wuz a good 'big fish,' witch he dint allow no fitin ceptn whenever he wonted to put geronimo back in his place.

but whut wuz sad wuz how trumbly woodnt have nuthin to do with brownie no more n nex time she mated, she dun it with geronimo. purty soon that tank wuz loded with lil yaller fish with black stripes down thar sides. n geronimo wuz gittin biggern meaner all the time, a'chasin down ever fish in the tank ceptn fer brownie. seemed lack brownie dint keer much to chase geronimo, jes keepin im a'runnin now n then, but trumbley wuz a differnt matter. i wuz watchin em one day when geronimo wuz speshly nasty to them other fish, bitin on the tales of his own offsprang. finely trumbley turnt on im in a flash n hit im rite hard. that fish went down upside down n never cum up agin, dead by the nex mornin.

after that, thay wuznt no doubt bout brownie bein the big fish. he made it thru a nuther move, witch ye caint hardly keep yer fish alive whenever ye half to move yer tank, but i always try to keep a cuple of my faverts ifn i move (i dun moved that tank four times now).

brownie wuz the big fish in that thar tank fer years. after i had moved to a better apartment over on 56th twixt park n lexington, i gut a catfish name of felix, witch i still have felix after over nine years.

but cichlids dont live so long. i gut to whar fer a treat, i wood git freeze dried tubifex wurms to put in the tank n them cichlids luved em. they cum in lil cubes, witch ye stick em on the side of the tank n them fish peck at it till them wurms gits hydrated n sumtimes they even cum back to life n start a'squirmin round, making them fish near crazy to eat em.

but them same tubifex wurms wuz brownies downfall. i put a cube of em on the side one time n rite away brownie wuz takin the furst swipes at it. but this time, in sted of knockin sum of em out into the water, he gut that hole cube into his mouth n then couldnt spit it out. twuz sad how almos the instunt he wuz in that cundishun, a nuther fish name of yallertail gut to pickin on im till brownie went n hid. twuz the furst time i had seen power change in the tank. i dint know it then, but in almos all cases, whenever the big fish loses his spot, he dont live much longer. twuz so fer brownie also. them wurms gut to whar they had burrowed rite thru the side of his bidy till he couldnt keep nun of them other fish off im n he wuz a'dyin. i tride to save im, but twuz too late. after near four years, brownie finely floated dead to the top of the tank.

i dint real eyes at the time whut a good big fish he wuz. yallertail wuznt never half as good, a mean tyrant that kep a minny fish as possibull with stubby tails. he wood git his in the long run.

brownie wuz lack one of them care ackters in a greek drama. he wuz the king of the tank, but he had a greedy streak that finely dun im in.

ye kin larn lots of thangs frum watchin yer tank.

fish of buddy don: is fish lack folks?

i aint never sed nuthin bout this tank of africun cichlids me n miz bd has sittin in our livin room. tiz a big un, 6 feet long by 2 feet deep by 2.5 feet tall, witch thats good fer holdin about 155 gallons of water.

we gut it stocked with africun cichlids from lake malawi, mosly whut they call pseudotropheus saulosi, but thays also a pair of catfish in thar, witch thar scientifick name is synodontis but we named ourn felix n fritz, witch we dun had felix fer nigh onto 9 years n he wuz purty well full growd by the time we gut im.

thang bout cichlids is how they dont use thar color to hide so they kin git verr britely colord, almos lack marine fish, witch they call them fish that lives in salt water 'marine.'

ifn ye aint never kep no fish or ifn ye kep gold fish or sum such, ye mite not bleeve jes how smart fish kin be. aint minny of em much smartern africun cichlids n they gut em a verr highly deeveloped soshul order, so to speak. in ever tank or pond or lil area, ye gut yer big fish, witch thatns the one that ever other fish backs down frum.

we had our tank a'goin so long that moren half the fish in it wuz born thar. they gut em a method of hatchin lil fish known as 'mouth breedin,' witch it wurks thisaway: whichever male fish kin git the female to pay im sum attenchun -- taint always the big fish, by the way -- that male gits to swimmin over by the female n a'waggin his tale, speshly his anal fin. hes gut im sum lil spots on that tale name of 'egg spots,' on a counta how whenever he gits to waggin his tail jes rite, the female gits to thankin thays real eggs (so they say, witch makes me wunder how they gut inny idee whut female fish thanks since humans caint hardly figger out whut thar a'thankin!).

inny who, the two matin fish gits into a lil dance whar furst the female puts her mouth by the males anal fin n sorta pertends to bite at it n then they swap spots so the male kin do the same thang to the female. purty soon, the female seems to burst n a passle of eggs pops out. all the fish in the tank wonta git a bite of em, but the female fish is generly quickest to git all them eggs in her mouth. once shes scooped em all in, she gets back to the bizness of the dance, witch the two fish keeps on a'doin till the male lets out his seminull contribushun to the nex generayshun. the female scoops it up, the eggs is fertil-eyesd, n she carries em in her mouth without eatin nuthin fer about a month.

we call her 'pouched' durin this period on a counta how she has a pouch of lil tiny fish jes below whar her mouth is. ifn she looks ye in the eye, ye kin see all them lil fry in her mouth, thar lil eyes lack brillyunt black dots.

after shes dun without no food fer a munth, she turns em a'loose, spreadin em out in the tank n puttin em in places whar they kin hide. thang is, tuther fishes aint gut no cumpunkshuns bout eatin em.

durin my years of keepin this tank, i seen a'minny a big fish cum n go. ye gut yer goodns n yer badns. yer goodns wont let tuther fish fite, lessn they wonta fite with him, witch the big fish is always a male. corse, ye gut yer badns, witch all they wonta do is chase all tuther fish round the tank n try to kill em.

as ye mite magine, they git em a peckin order wurked up n whenever the populayshun gits too big (thays a ebb n flow toot on a counta how they live bout 4 years at mos, lease in our tank), ye git to whar sum fish is whut we call 'banished,' witch that means they aint allowd to go no whar but up in a top corner of the tank with no perteckshun, stressd out till they die.

i dun tride savin such banished fish befor, but tiz a waste of time. ye take out the banished fish, put it into a nuther tank, n purty soon, the main tank has a nuther banished fish. ye caint stop em frum a'doon whut thar a'gone do.

corse, taint ever fish thatll take such treatment. sum of em wont give in n let tharself be banished n whenever that happens, the fish gits beat up purty bad. tuther fish generly eat off as much of thar caudal fin as they kin to keep em frum bein able to swin verr fast. after that, the fish has gut to hide as much as possibull, but twill git beat up a lot. we call fish that gits into such a state 'batterd.'

i once had a batterd fish name of stubby, on a counta how he dint have nuthin but a stubb lef fer his tail. he gut attacked ever time he cum out to eat, gittin a bite of food in while bein chased by the big fish n then goin to hide agin. i always felt fer im n wonted to git im out sos he mite git a chants to grow his tail back n quit a'gittin beat up so much, but ye caint hardly catch them fish, speshly one lack stubby that lacked to hide so much.

innywho, thar cum a day whar i had to move, so that meant takin the tank apart n givin away mos of the fish. corse, i always keep them catfish, speshly felix since hes so old (we dun had fritz fer near five year) n i deecided i wood keep stubby also. ye kin take yer other fish to most inny fish store n give em away only they wont pay ye nuthin on a counta tiz a favor fer em to take em offn yer hands.

i give stubby to my son, witch he kep fish in them days. he put im in a tank all by his ownself n purty soon, he had dun growd his tail back. twernt lack he wood cum out much, but he gut his tail back. twuz a nice thang to see. he gut biggern n twuz rite nice.

purty soon my son deecided to git sum tiny lil new cichlids fer the tank n funny thang is, even tho stubby wuz three times the size of em, purty soon one of them new lil fish wuz the big fish n gut to whar he had dun et stubbys tail back down to a stubb. sad thang is, ye caint change the persunalty of a fish!

as i dun writ, the big fish kin be peacekeepin types or warlike types. we had one we give the name of 'pol pot,' on a counta he killt minny of his brother fish. he wuz born in the tank n gut to be big fish by havin a fite to the death with his own daddy. he wuz a awful fish n twuz sad to watch how he terrized the rest of the tank, bothern mos ever fish ceptn his own mama.

then one evenin, he wuz a'gittin too rowdy even fer her. she chased im a bit, witch twuz a nuff to git our tenchun, so we watched fer a while. after he had chased near ever fish but his mama down into thar hidey holes (they all gut em a place to hide), his mama turnt on im suddenly n killt im in a sangle strike. twuz amazin. she hit im so hard, he turnt over backerds n drifted down to the bottom of the tank. he dint git uprite agin n wuz ded by nex mornin.

even befor pol pot gut his chants to be big fish in the tank, thay wuz a nuthern that wuz batterd so bad we named im 'bedraggled.' bedraggled refused to be banished n paid fer his refusal with his bidy, a'gittin so beat up to whar his eyes wuz clouded over, witch generly that means thar near ded. but bedraggled refused to die n thang wuz, he survived four or five differnt big fish. sadly, whenever we moved over to new jersey, he dint make it, tho we tride.

ye could larn ye sum lessons frum how them fish wurks.

1. ever fish is different
2. the big fish in the tank dont last as long as the lil uns
3. ifn a fish lets itself git banishd, twill die
4. ifn a fish kin take a punch, twill outlast lodes of them big fish
5. big fish cums in two forms, peaceful n warlike.
6. a warlike big fish has to spend mos of his time chasin all them other fish around to proov how hes the biggest
7. a peaceful big fish lives a verr long time n only chases tuther fish ifn a fite brakes out twixt em
8. ye caint save a fish that wont save itself

seems to me thays at lease one lessun fer them dimcrats in all of that, ifn ye bleev inny of them lessuns kin apply to humans, witch is

1. ye caint let yerself be banished to no canada
2. ye gut to take a punch
3. ye gut to suck it up on a counta how them big fish dont las as long as lil uns
4. ifn ye caint save yerself, caint nobidy else save ye

corse, humans aint fish, so mayhap nun of this signifies innythang.