I’ve always liked eels. Maybe it stemmed from the time I had a black snake on the hearth in my childhood home when my mother came home after work and I found out how afraid most people are of them, or it could be something else. Who knows.
I had just acquired my first 55 gallon tank. It was such a nice
tank, and I had managed to keep it well stocked and healthy. It was in
the basement of our home in Knoxville, Tennessee. Then I found them
Tire Track Eels
. I had to have them so I spent my monthly fish
budget and bought four.
I had managed to get three into the tank, when I discovered an interesting trait of eels. They can come clear out of the water. The fourth had no sooner hit the edge of the water when he did a somersault, cleared the side of the tank, and did a perfect swan dive straight into the basement floor drain. I could see him wriggling just out of reach. The drain was small, my hand was bigger. I used the plastic coated handle on the net to attempt to get him within reach, but the moment it touched him, another jump put him out of sight down that dark hole.
I ran out the basement door, grabbed the water hose, and with the hose bent double, and the faucet on full, ran back.
The water gushed out and down that dark hole. Leaving the hose running I ran out to the street to see if by some miracle I could flush him out. It was so cold outside the edges of the water running out of the drain began to freeze as it hit the asphalt. Then I spotted him, he was so small, and lifeless. I carefully picked him up, amazed that such a small creature could have jumped so far. Then I noticed a slight quiver in his gill area.
This was the second run into the basement, and into the tank he went, drain slime and all.....
He outlived the other three by several years, and most of the other fish it that community tank. He even survived my serving for almost a year during Desert Storm in 1991, and the friends I left him with.
As I said I have always loved eels, but I can only hope to one day find another so hardy and so blessed with longevity.