A few weeks ago I wrote about a monitor lizard that I saw in the flesh, quite a rare site for us westerners, but not half as surprising as the Climbing Perch I saw this weekend! What is a climbing Perch? It is a freshwater species of fish that is present throughout Thailand, living in lakes, rivers and just about small pool of water. They lay eggs (in the water) and will eat vegetation and small fish.
There is nothing remarkable about the appearance of the fish and they are not at all rare, but what was so incredible about the sight of the Climbing Perch is where you are most likely to see them. During the rainy season, when the heavy rains fall, these fish decide that the water they are living in doesn't quite meet their expectations or needs so get out of the lake or river, hop on to the road and go searching for a new water course to live in!
I had no idea about this species of fish prior to this last weekend and it was while I was out on the bike, riding around the village, that I saw three 'things' flapping around on the road. Not one to ignore an unusual sight I hastened to where they were and to my total amazement it was three of these Climbing Perch. I was ready to pick them up and return them to the adjacent lake when my wife told me about them, and how they were in search of a new home.
As we have a good sized raised pond in the garden that is overrun by Guppies and Molly's, and these fish will happily eat other smaller fish, I thought it might be a good idea to introduce these three fish in to our pond, to try and control the numbers of the live bearing fish we have.
The next thing that struck me was why has it taken five years to see one? The climbing out of water 'ritual' is going on all the time between July and October, yet somehow I had never seen them before except in the water when they come close to the bank in search of food.
Naturally I looked up on the internet to find out a bit more about them and the first website I read stated that despite their name, Climbing Fish do not climb. I would suggest that is very wrong as the only way these fish can get out of the water is to climb, often up steep slopes to get to the road.
As we have a good sized raised pond in the garden that is overrun by Guppies and Molly's, and these fish will happily eat other smaller fish, I thought it might be a good idea to introduce these three fish in to our pond, to try and control the numbers of the live bearing fish we have.
The next thing that struck me was why has it taken five years to see one? The climbing out of water 'ritual' is going on all the time between July and October, yet somehow I had never seen them before except in the water when they come close to the bank in search of food.
Naturally I looked up on the internet to find out a bit more about them and the first website I read stated that despite their name, Climbing Fish do not climb. I would suggest that is very wrong as the only way these fish can get out of the water is to climb, often up steep slopes to get to the road.