Go back to my home page, Welcome to rickubis.com
           Go back to the RICKUBISCAM page. 

Fish are also part of nature, but most of the time we don't interact with them.  Sometimes, I've been surprised by very interesting fish doing very interesting things, and I'm
gathering them on this page. Sharks are fish, of course, but they are in a different group. Fish on these pages are defined by having a skeleton composed of rigid bone. 
Sharks and their relatives have skeletons made of cartilage. I've put them on a different page.

06/05/2021 (posted 6/13/21) I visit Fiorenza Park frequently . It's pretty close to home, it covers 362 acres, it has about 6 miles of trails and a wonderful collection of wildlife.
The weather was nice, and the high water was apparently enough to induce some Gar to spawn.  I could see one group of gar moving along the surface, and I tried to capture some video
or photos of them when they gulped air, or came up to the surface.  The water was murky as usual, so I couldn't see much below the surface. But, I watched them swim over submerged
portions of sidewalk, and over the low footbridge. I didn't get good photos, and even the frames from the video didn't work well...but some of the video clips came out ok.  I came to realize
that there were more than two fish involved--in fact there might have been 3 or 4 fish following the leader. I got only a few quick looks at them from the top--but when I did I saw a really broad
snout. I'm pretty sure that I was watching Alligator Gar (Atractosteus spatula)! Examine the video clip (mp4) to see them in action. It's possible that these are Shortnose Gar (Lepisosteus
platostomus), but that broad head makes me think otherwise.  When water temperature and depth is right, gar swim over flooded areas and deposit stick eggs on vegetation. The males 
which are swimming behind, fertilize the eggs.  That's what these gar seemed to be doing.
   
              FIRST VIEW, SWIMMING                                                  TAIL FINS SHOWING                                       GETING AIR--LOOK AT THE TEETH!                                         MORE TEETH
   
  BIG TAIL ON THE LEFT, FOLLOWED BY SMALLER                    BROAD SNOUT VISIBLE                                    ONE MORE BREAKING SURFACE

03/06/2021   I visited Fiorenza Park North to get more images to document the "fish kill" from the Big Freeze of Feb.14-20, 2021.  I was also hoping to find the "eel" carcass
I mentioned in a previous post but it was gone.  The images below were taken along a 200-foot(approximately) long stretch of shorline on the North edge of the South lake
at the park. Try this link and it should show a Google map view of the area. Google Map Link.    Most (if not all) of the carcasses seem to be of armored catfish (Loricariids) of various sizes.
Since they are of various sizes, I believe that this show that mostly these species were affected, and that this isn't some kind of arrangement caused by size. On the other hand,
other carcasses might have been easier to consume than these armored ones, so might have been carried off. I believe I've seen live examples of Hypostomus plecostomus and
Pterygoplichthys anisitsi at this park, so the carcasses could be at least one of those.  Clicking on an image will open it larger in a new window.

    
        Carcass by my size-11 foot                                                                                                                                                   Black Vultures still picked at the carcasses.         

    
   B.Vulture (Coragyps atratus) in a pile.                                                                                    Closer view of one pile.          

  
   Stitched panorama of close view of one pile.

   
  I shot these four progressive views to capture the extend of the carcass field--and this was just one part of the coverage.

 
                                                                      This is a camera-built panorama just a bit further West. Fish carcasses were scattered everywhere.

03/04/2021   I visited Fiorenza Park North again, It's not too far from home.  I'm not sure, but I think the water level has dropped since my last visit.
Today, I discovered that the armored catfish (various species?) apparently did not come through the freeze even unscathed.  There were many dead ones
scattered around the shoreline.  There were many different sizes.  Maybe they had died during the freeze but their carcasses had been hidden by deeper water.
They were certainly visible today!  

    
             5 in this picture.                                        Two of those 5, closer.                                At least 10 in this picture.                     A closer view, some are submerged.           

    
          And there are more.                            I couldn't get closer to these big ones.        Two more, and something very interesting!         
I noticed the uncommon carcass floating near the bank. I was able to get it on land, and I took photos of it.  I could think of two "tube-shaped" animals
that it might have been.  One is an amphibian, and one is a reptile. I took my pictures of details that I thought would help me identify the animal.   As the pictures
below will show, the carcass had been partially-eaten, and was also decomposing. So, what could it be?

    
   Carcass is in pretty bad shape.                     My foot next to the carcass for scale.              There's a quarter near the head          Here's a look at the skin. It isn't smoooth.

    
   A look a bit closer. Are those scales?        Pectoral area behind the head is chewed off         The head, no external gills.                      Some small teeth show, not hooked.
One of the animals that have a similar shape is a snake. Let's compare with some pictures  of Diamondback Watersnakes (Nerodia rhombifer) that I've taken in the past within a few yards
of where I found this carcass.  The carcass has no color pattern--even if it doesn't match this snake, it doesn't match any others, either.  The scales on the carcass are the wrong size and shape-
for this snake, and just about any other local snake. Can't see on the two snake pictures, but the carcass has NO large belly scales. The few teeth visible in the skull are wrong for a snake, too.
a snakes teeth are thin, sharp like needles, and the tips curve backwards.   I couldn't see any eyes on the carcass, so can't really compare those. The pictures don't show it well, but the tail
of the carcass was flattened vertically. No local species of snake have a tail that's flattened so that it pushes well--like an alligator's tail, or a tadpole....  And that brings up the second animal
that I thought it could possibly be.
    
That other animal is an amphibian. No, not a tadpole. A large salamander that lives in Texas (I've seen them at Brazos Bend State Park) called a Siren, or usually, a Lesser Siren. (Siren
intermedia).  Sirens can grow to 2 feet long (60.96 cm). There are two pictures above of one in the jaws of a Great Blue Heron. They do have a flattened tail. But they are totally smooth, and
they have two small front legs. The carcass doesn't show legs, but they could have been torn off where that damage is. Sirens also have large, exposed branching gills on the sides of their 
head. There are none here.  I really doubt that the carcass was a Siren, also.   So, what does that leave us?  How about an American Eel?  I think that this was the carcass of an American Eel
(Anguilla rostrata). They do live here, and I've found at least one report online of one being caught in Brays Bayou.  I've never seen one in the wild in Texas (or anywhere else). 

01/13/2018 and 01/20/2018 . Various species of the "tropical fish" known as Plecostomus have become established in Texas waters. They are considered invasive and
destructive. Since they have been living in these waters, it's reasonable to assume that they have survived winters here. However, over the last few weeks (specifically
from January 12 to January 20) we've had especially cold weather. During the first week there were about 4 days of temperatures around 30 degrees F. And during
the second week we had about 4 days near 20 degrees F. While I was visiting Archbishop Fiorenza Park on the 13th, I noticed many dead Plecostomus along the banks
of the lake. On the 20th, most of the carcasses were gone from where I'd seen them, but I did see Black Vultures eating a few.  I assume that the cold weather killed them.
The pictures of the dead fish are from the 13th. I've taken a picture of my foot near some of the carcasses for scale (shoe size 11). The pictures of the vulture
are frame grabs from a short video clip.   And the video is here.  (NOTE 7/19/2020): The fish in the pictures below are probably Pterygoplichthes species--but still armored catfish.)
    
 
    

11/9/2015  Since my investigation of the breaching fish, I've been looking through older video footage and photos of gar that I've filmed over the years. I've found a number of video clips 
showing gar (mostly Spotted Gar)gulping air.  In all the older material, including the Alligator gar I filmed this year, the breaching is not as active as it seemed to be in the video that I shot in 
September and October of this year. I've added them to this page, but put them the chronological order of the rest of the page. In the slow video, I can see a consistent process which seems
to take the 3 steps I've also described further down the page:  

1) The end of the jaws extend out of the water and open briefly (perhaps with slight opening of gill slits,).

2) The jaws and head extend further out of the water, and the jaws and gills slits open at the same time. A large quantity of gas is expelled from the gills slits, making large bubbles.

3)  The head submerged, the gar begins to sink. The gill slits open, and a small amount of gas is expelled making a small stream of bubbles.

At this time, I don't know exactly what is going on.

09/13/2015--10/11/2015  For some time this summer, fish have been "hitting" the surface of the water in various parts of the park. I'd been watching this
activity near the Spillway Trail. There was a lot of fish hitting the surface in Pilant Slough, from the Spillway west to the
Observation Tower (distance about 900 feet, according to Google Maps). I had assumed that most of the fish hitting the surface were Bowfin, and possibly Gar.  
I've observed both gar and bowin breathing air at BBSP before, and at those times, the breaching was relatively sedate.
*These* breaches were violent, sometimes spraying water for a wide area. And the activity brought many alligators there to hunt the fish.
    
I started watching more closely starting in September, where I determined that the fish seemed not to be hunting.
However, the water was usually obscured by glare or by murkiness, so I could not tell what kind of fish were surfacing. I was nearby when fisherman successfully caught
both bowfin ( Amia Calva) *and* gar (both spotted (Lepisosteus oculatus) and shortnosed(Lepisosteus platostomus).
 
        
                          BOWFIN                                             SHORTNOSE GAR
It seemed likely that these fish were the culprits, but I wanted to be sure. So, I started trying to capture high-speed video of the breaching events.
If I could capture an event at 210 frames per second, then I could play it back slower to identify the fish. This was
a bit difficult, but after 5 weekends (9/13/15 - 10/11/15), I caught enough video clips to make some identification. I've put these all together into one 5-minute clip.
I was able to identify bowfin in some of the clips. Most obvious identity key was the long dorsal fin, but the large blunt head and small pectoral fins were secondary keys.
Some of the other fish were gar; easily identifiable by the long, thin snout.  The clip is in 2 formats  here(wmv)  and here (mp4)  The animated gifs were made with frames
from the video.

            
                               BOWFIN                                                 BOWFIN                                             PLECOSTOMUS?

But, I saw a fish in a few of the clips that I believe was neither a gar nor a bowfin. The fish were usually dark, with a rounded head, but the pectoral and
pelvic fins were very large-much larger than on a bowfin and closer together than those on a gar. The 3rd gif above shows this fish.
I believe that these fish are examples of plecostomus! I have found carcasses of plecostomus near some of our local bodies of water.
Here's a picture of one that I took near Buffalo Bayou in 2009.

           

And here is a picture of a live one that I filmed today at a local pet shop.

       

From some research online, I have found that "plecostomus" can refer to anumber of different species of fish. They are also known to surface periodically to "gulp air",
possibly for bouyancy control. I haven't seen anything that shows they use the oxygen. Gar and Bowfin are related, and both have lungs. In some of the literature I've read, these are called
true lungs.

In AIR-BREATHING DURING ACTIVITY IN THE FISHES AMIA CALVA AND LEPISOSTEUS OCULATUS C. G. FARMER* AND D. C. JACKSON
Accepted 19 January; published on WWW 5 March 1998 it is stated that lungs appeared in fish *before* swim bladders. (p.943) ;
During low-level exercise, more than 50% of oxygen used by both species came from the air.  Bowfin and Spotted gar.(p. 945)
and on P.947 Increasing temperature increases the rate of air-breathing in bowfin. Spotted gar also increase air-breathing with temp.
Air breathing may be more important to support activity than surviving in hypoxic water. The fish CAN get O2 from air
if there is none in the water, but this situation happens less than the need driven by activity.
 
In EFFECTS OF TEMPERATURE AND LIGHT ON AERIAL BREATHING BEHAVIOR OF THE SPOTTED GAR,LEPISOSTEUS OCULATUS  by
GERARDUS C. DE ROTH THE OHIO JOURNAL OF SCIENCE 73(1): 34, January, 1973.
Freshwater gars gulp air at the surface even at the highest levels of dissolved Oxygen.Page 38.
In another study, gar were obligate air breathers at oxygen lower than 4.5 ppm but active gar were obligatory air breathers at higher oxygen concentrations. So, rising temperatures could
also cause more

surface breathing. p39 (By definition water is hypoxic if it doesn't have enough O2 to support life (< 2ppm)  http://toxics.usgs.gov/definitions/hypoxia.html
Normal is 8-10 ppm (parts per million)

May 24, 2015-- We'd been getting rain, and water levels have been good at the park. Since it was wet this morning, I decided to drive down to Elm Lake. When I drove over the floodgate
at the end of Pilant Slough, I looked to my right--at where spillway that empties into Big Creek. What I saw there made me turn around, go back to the parking lot at the VC, and return with my
camera.  The concrete spillway empties into a gully, which empties after curving about 300 yards into Big Creek, which flows past and continues out past Hale Lake and eventually into the
Brazos River.  But, at the spillway, the water is relatively calm, and today it acted as a sort of "lagoon". And there, in the calm water of this lagoon, a large number of gar were swimming 
around. From time-to-time, the gar would come to the surface and--with a quick up-and-down of their head--gulp air.  I estimate that most of the gar swimming around were 12 to 18 inches
long.  We have at least 3 species of gar in the park--Short-Nosed Gar, Spotted Gar, and Alligator Gar. I was going to try to see if I could see any Alligator Gar among those in the collection.
Alligator Gar are separated from most other species of gar by a few physical differences. One of these (and not easily seen) is the *double* rows of teeth in their jaws. The other, is the 
broad, rounded shape to their snout. This broad head resembles that of an Alligator--which is a reason for the common name. But, it is also described in their taxonomic name-Atractosteus
spatula (nose broad and flat).  I watched in fascination as the gar moved about. I tried a few times to capture photos or video of them coming to the surface, so I could get a view of the top
of their heads. It was hard to get these views because the dark water prevented sighting of a gar until just before it broke the surface. I wondered if I'd be able to identify an Alligator Gar 
among these foot-and-a-half long fish.  But, before too long, I had my answer.  Through the circular ripples of the moving fish, I saw a looming lighter shape under the water.  It made its way to
the surface like a submarine, and then broke the surface.  As the head came up, water gushed out from the gill slits on each side. Then the mouth opened, closed, and submerged. The fish
leisurely followed, and took a while to fully submerge. The head was at least 8 inches long...JUST THE HEAD. I'd found an alligator gar! Did I have the camera ready? NO. 
However, I continued watching. The large gar were there among the others, and as time passed, I saw them surface many times. I have no way of knowing if I was seeing the same Alligator
gar...or the same few gars. But some of them were immense. I could not get close to the water, to get any certain measurement, but I think some of the gar could have been around 8 feet long.

 

 

I spent most of the day in that spot, watching those fish. I knew that this was a transitory, and relatively rare event (we rarely get water that high, in that spot), so I decided to make the most of it.
I shot many pictures, and short clips, trying to capture some images of those huge fish...and trying to get some footage that could give some sense of how large they were.

 

 

I didn't see anything that looked like feeding behavior. I didn't see any chasing, I didn't see any "bait" fish. I *did* see what seemed to be gar swimming in pairs--and a few times one surfaced,
and another surfaced right behind it.  All the splashing and activity finally attracted our other large aquatic predator--the Alligator Gar's namesake.  An alligator appeared from Big Creek. It 
was about 8 feet long, and moved leisurely towards the spillway. It encountered a stick about 5 feet long, and just pushed it along.I happened to be shooting video, trying to get some scale to
the scene.  As I was filming, the alligator suddenly leapt up and forward. It had gone for one of the surfacing gar, but missed. The alligator moved back among the wooded cover, and I lost sight
of it. I watched the gar until it was time to go home.  I've made two short video clips from some of the footage.  This clip was edited from footage shot at normal speed (30fps).  The alligator 
also appears in it:   Alligator Gar 05242015 (mp4 format)    The second clip is made from footage shot at 120 fps, and played back at 30; for slow-motion. These show the Alligator Gar 
gulping air at the surface. Unfortunately for me, while the camera was adjusted to lower light to "see" the fish under the surface; when the fish came out of the water, it was overexposed 
photographically. I tried to adjust this with software.  The slow motion clip is:   Alligator Gar 05242015 slow (mp4 format)    
I'd never encountered anything like an Alligator Gar until a dead one appeared in the spillway (not the same spillway we have now, but in the same spot) in 2002. I was able to salvage the 
skull from that fish, and I used it to prepare the exhibit that's in the Visitor's Center now.  That skull was about 12 inches long, from snout tip, to the rear of the head. The carcass-when I finally
found it-was as long as one of our John Deere gators; about 8 1/2 feet long. Since 2002, many things have changed. The internet has changed, and perception of the Alligator Gar has 
changed.  The story of the gar in 2002 can be seen on further down on this page.  Alligator Gar (Atractosteus spatula) have been a reviled, misunderstood species through much of its natural
range. So much so, that its natural range has dwindled over the years. Texas is one of the few states with a remaining healthy population of Alligator Gar, and TPWD has been studing this 
fascinating creature to better understand it.  That wasn't the case in the 1930's when a man named J.G. Burr created "The Electrical Gar Destroyer" and began using it in various bodies of
water. Others emulated him, and thousands of gar were killed (from what I could find, there is no mention of how many other animals died along with them).  But, things have taken a turn for
the better, and now much more is known about them.  One important fact is that it can take 40 years for a gar to grow to 8 feet long. Another is that Alligator Gar can only spawn when certain
circumstances occur: there must be ground flooding, and the temperature must be correct (at least 68degrees).  I believe that I was watching courtship or spawning today--especially when a
pair of gar would surface.  As I mentioned, Alligator Gar have 2 rows of teeth in their upper jaws, with the 2nd row in the roof of their mouth. They have a "vascularized" swim bladder--which
they can use to collect air and then get oxygen from it. Their skeletal system has a combination of bone and cartilagenous features--a sort of crossover from skeletons of sharks and those of
true "bony" fish. Gar are covered with thick, strong ganoid scales. They are opportunistic predators, and hunt many types of smaller prey, but most often eat "forage fish" like gizzard shad.
Claims that they decimate populations of game fish (such as bass) have turned out to be unfounded. Ongoing genetic studies have shown Alligator Gar to be most closely related to Bowfin
(Amia calva).--which ALSO live here in the park.  Alligator Gar are not only big, but very unique fish. And....they are just one of the creatures that live here in our park. And I got to watch a 
group of them swimming freely right here.
 

Here are some good links to information about Alligator Gar:  
This article in Texas Parks magazine:    http://www.tpwmagazine.com/archive/2015/mar/ed_3_gar/index.phtml
The general description on the TPWD site:  https://tpwd.texas.gov/huntwild/wild/species/alg/
and another page here:  http://www.fishesoftexas.org/taxon/atractosteus-spatula

There are many other pages, but these were related to fish in Texas. 

July 24, 2011 (added 11/09/2015) And another week later, and the Spotted Gar are still moving around. I continued shooting high-speed video, hoping to catch some hunting activity.
I still didn't see any. I did get another clip of breathing. I've manipulated this clip to show how quickly this happens, and also to slow it even more. 
The 10 images below are frame grabs from this video clip.

July 17, 2011 (added 11/06/2015) A week later, and the Spotted Gar are still moving around. I continued shooting high-speed video, hoping to catch some hunting activity.
But, I didn't see any. I did get a few more clips of them breathing.  This seems to be a 3-step process. First, the tips of the jaws break the surface and open briefly.
Next, air is expelled from the gill slits--usually in large bubbles. Then most of the head breaks the surface, and the jaws open and close again before the head
submerges.  As the gar sinks after this, a small trickle of bubbles leaks from the gill slits. the 10 images below are frame grabs from this video clip, which shows 2 surfacing events. 

July 10, 2011 (added 11/03/2015) Gar and Bowfin are distantly related, and both can breathe air. On this day, I was able to see Spotted Gar (Lepisoseus Oculatus) and
Bowfin swimming near each other. The three images below are frame grabs from this video clip. The gar gulps air once in the clip. 

May 3, 2009 (added 10/31/2015)(updated 1/21/21) I watched this gar swimming in Elm Lake, and was able to film it taking a gulp of air--at 210 frames per second. The images below are frame grabs
from this video clip(mp4)  This is how I usually see gar coming up for air. They slowly approach the surface, then tilt their jaws out of the water, open them-then air seems to flush through
the gill slits, and the gar slowly sinks under.

November  10, 2002 The image below (BOWFIN) is of an interesting "primitive" fish called a "Bowfin".
The water at the park got very high. In fact the nearby Big Creek was so filled that the water from Pilant Slough, which normally flows out of the park, was flowing back INTO the park from Big
Creek. As evidence of the amount of water we received, here it the fishing pier on Hale Lake, the deck of which usually stays at least 10 feet above water level (see HALE LAKE PIER, 
below).  This happened for about 2 days, until the water level dropped in Big Creek . As the water started flowing back out of Pilant Slough, other bodies of water were free to drain. 40 Acre
lake started flowing back under the footbridge, and a few predatory fish stationed themselves in the sluggish flow. Among them were a few Bowfin, and a few Spotted Gar (see image below).
  These fish were about 15 inches long. It is interesting to me that these "primitive" fish both inhabit the park, right along with various perch, sunfish and bass. Of course, let's not forget the 
Alligator Gar! The image below (HEAD AND SPINE) shows my completed gar as it is now.
----
                                BOWFIN                                                               SPOTTED GAR                                                      GAR HEAD AND SPINE                                               HALE LAKE PIER

October  20, 2002 A rather cool, wet weekend. However, on Sunday, some alligators showed themselves right after the sun finally came through the clouds.  On Saturday, we had the 
Volunteer Picnic at the park. During this, I'm proud to say, I received an award for "Outstanding Volunteer" from the Brazos Bend State Park Volunteer's Organization. Apparently, this was
due to votes cast by a number of volunteers. Thanks, everyone! I have a great time doing things at the park, and then I GET AWARDED FOR IT! Is that great, or WHAT? The image below
middle (RICKUBIS LIKES FISH)  shows some older guy, Rickubis(yes, that's me), attempting to reconstruct the spine of a very large Alligator Gar--on the dining room table. In fact, this is the
same gar I've talked about before.  So far, I've gone out on three occasions to dig and scrape and find these vertebrae. So far, I've found about 48. I'm not sure how many more there might be,
but I can't seem to find any more. I'm sure I have a large part of it.  The spine I can reconstruct is about 48 inches ,or 4 feet long. The image below right (LONG SPINE) shows what I have so far.
  Add the length of the head, about 20 inches, and I have 68 inches of a 96-inch long fish accounted for. I have no idea of the length of the tail spines, nor the distance between vertebrae. I'll see
if I can get a count of how many there are supposed to be.

  --- 
                  FRONT VIEW     -------------                RICKUBIS LIKES FISH-------------  ---------------LONG SPINE

---

---

---

April 07, 2002    Kind of a quiet day today. More storm weather was due in our area. However, this morning, I was allowed to join David, one of the Park Naturalists, and we took a quick 
survey of some recently-deceased park denizens. Among them was the huge gar that I've shown pictures of here, which I'd first encountered on March 17. I'd wanted to do a quick dissection
of the gar to determine what it might have eaten, but was unable to find it until today; much too late for this. Making the best of the situation, I was able to take some more pictures that showed
how large the gar is. Yes, that is a John Deere Gator in the picture below (By the Gator), next to the gar. I also took a few pictures of the skull. (MY FOOT (below)) and (TEETH (below)).  
Those teeth are sharp!

-----

March 17, 2002  They were draining the Pilant Slough, and as the water level receded, aquatic creatures were trapped in waning pools of water. The alligators evidently capitalized on this turn
of events, and rested on the newly-exposed banks near the observation tower in great numbers. See (lots of gators) below. Then, on the low end of the Slough, where the water was exiting
the floodgate, a large fish got caught in the concrete breakwater. This was an alligator gar.  See the images below. The first shot shows it as it was found. I tried to move this fish, but I was only
able to expose its head, which had been crushed.  Note the size of the concrete uprights. I'm standing on, and you'll get an idea of the scale of this fish. It was HUGE.
---
                ---       LOTS OF GATORS----                                               ---GAR AS IT WAS FOUND-                                       ---MY FOOT BY THE HEAD----                                          ------THE HEAD------------

                THE ENTIRE FISH 

The Alligator Gar's Story:
In March of 2002, the floodgate at the bottom of Pilant Slough, near the Nature Center, was opened. This was done to drain the slough so that the floodgate could be repaired. Sometime 
after this, a number of people noticed a huge fish caught in the breakwater at the floodgate opening.  Here is the fish as it appeared on March 17, 2002.

----
            GAR AS IT WAS FOUND---                    -MY FOOT BY THE HEAD--                     --------THE HEAD-------                   -----THE ENTIRE FISH
The fish is an Alligator Gar (Lepisosteus spatula).  Note that each one of those concrete ?teeth? in the floodgate is about one foot across.  The gar was removed and dragged out to a remote
location in the park.  Alligator Gars will eat other fish, though it is reported that they will sometimes take waterfowl. It?s very likely that a gar will eat anything that it can catch, including turtles 
and smaller alligators.  Unfortunately, too much time had passed before this gar could be examined to allow dissection for viewing its stomach contents.  It should be noted here that most
popular game fish, like Largemouth Bass, are generally too vigorous for the Alligator Gar to catch.  Some time later, the condition of the gar was checked. The plan was to allow various park
scavengers to clean the carcass. Here are other pictures of the gar, taken April 7, 2002.
----
---          -BY THE GATOR------              ------MY FOOT-M -----              --------TEETH
The gar is pictured near one of the John Deere Gators used by Brazos Bend State Park.  The gar did not break down easily for a number of reasons. A hot, dry summer and the heavy scales 
covering the body probably prevented effective scavenging of the carcass.  On April 23, Park Volunteer Rick Dashnau salvaged the head and developed this project. The gar?s head was 
kept in the specimen freezer for some weeks while Rick and the Park Naturalists tried to figure out how best to clean it.  What made cleaning this prize so difficult was its size. It barely fits into
a five-gallon bucket! On August 7, a small cage was built (to prevent larger scavengers from disturbing the head), and the head was placed in an ant nest for further cleaning.  Finally, the skull
was clean enough to work with. Rick Dashnau was able to finish cleaning and preparing the skull, and also able to build the case to display it on September 24, 2002.

I'll note here that we measured one of these John Deer gators today. It was 8.5 feet long! Also, here are four more pictures of the Alligator Gar.  The first one (ANT CAGE) shows the cage I 
built for the head so I could place it in an ant nest. The next two (STILL NOT, and 12 INCHES) show the head after the last treatment; a week long bath in a solution of 1 gallon bleach/4 gallons
water. This was before I stripped off the remaining flesh.  The measurement is from the end of the snout to approximately the center of the eye socket. These were taken on September 19th...
the same day as my images of the 3-fanged Cottonmouth.  The next two (SIDE VIEW, FRONT VIEW) are of the gar's head as we first displayed it. We placed it on top of the display featuring
the skeleton of an 8-foot long alligator. What I can't stop thinking about is the image of this huge prehistoric fish stalking the waters of the park--as large and as voracious as a good-sized
alligator!

---
                        08/07/02 ANT CAGE                                                   8STILL....NOT QUITE                                                 12 INCHES TIP TO EYE                                                    SIDE VIEW   

The gar is pictured near one of the John Deere Gators used by Brazos Bend State Park.  The gar did not break down easily for a number of reasons. A hot, dry summer and the heavy 
scales covering the body probably prevented effective scavenging of the carcass.  On April 23, Park Volunteer Rick Dashnau salvaged the head and developed this project. The gar?s head
was kept in the specimen freezer for some weeks while Rick and the Park Naturalists tried to figure out how best to clean it.  What made cleaning this prize so difficult was its size. It barely
fits into a five-gallon bucket! On August 7, a small cage was built (to prevent larger scavengers from disturbing the head), and the head was placed in an ant nest for further cleaning.  Finally,
the skull was clean enough to work with. Rick Dashnau was able to finish cleaning and preparing the skull, and also able to build the case to display it on September 24, 2002.

If you'd like to know more about the park follow these links:

Brazos Bend State Park   The main page.

Brazos Bend State Park Volunteer's Page  The volunteer's main page.
 

           Go back to my home page, Welcome to rickubis.com
           Go back to the RICKUBISCAM page.
           Go back to the See the World page.