Outnumbered and ambushed! That’s the story of one less fish in our stream. And man (or woman) was not the predator on this day.
My husband and I were relaxing after dinner one evening when we were startled by the abrupt and furious sounds of what we initially thought was a herd of deer running down the stream of our creek. We were surprised to discover a flock of adolescent Common Merganser Ducks out to prove their fishing prowess and perhaps sow their wild oats a bit.
Seven to eight of these waterfowl frantically swam by randomly diving under water right in front of our deck, then making a chaotic U-turn a short distance upstream before repeating these antics several times. Then it suddenly got quiet for maybe 20 seconds as they gathered close to the south creek bank near our deck. I opened the sliding door to see what they were up to, at which moment the chaos immediately resumed for a brief moment, water flying with aggressive diving, then another sharp U-turn up stream, where I soon realized what all the fuss was about.
One of the ducks had a rather large fish protruding from its bill, with I’m estimating 6 inches of the front end of the fish clearly visible. It was as though they were all hooting and hollering, or rather quacking and splashing in celebration, like a bunch of partying teens! I wonder if they share in the feast or just the glory of one duck’s right of passage into young adulthood? And if they do share, how does that work?
Though most interesting to observe, my fear is that they devoured my beloved brown trout, “Brownie,” whom I’ve enjoyed watching grow over the past year. I stayed away from fishing this area when we discovered that Brownie had a favorite feeding hole just to the left of our deck toward the north side of the creek. He was a rather large trout for a creek, perhaps 16 inches at last sighting. This may have been based on size magnification from the visual effects of water. In any case, he was working toward mounter status, I’m quite sure. With the tag team approach, he just didn’t have a chance.
I’m feeling a bit of sadness as I ponder a lesson learned… You can be a spectator or a fine diner.
Probably not both.
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