Aunt Julia's true stories: dangerous fishes

Title

Language

English

Source

The Young Citizen. 2 (3) April 1936

Year

1936

Subject

Sharks

Dangerous marine animals

Rights

In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted

Fulltext

April, J.r1.u; THE YOUNG CITIZEN 91 Aunt Julia's True Stories DANGEROUS FISHES You have read a great deal about our common food fishes. You should also know those that arc dangerous because th~y are poisonous or becaus..! they can injure or even kill men. Once in a while you read about men who have been killed by sharks. Corpses are' sometimes founci in the sea without legs or with the entire lower half of the body missing. These are victims of man-eat ing sharks. Sea bathers should be careful not to go to deep waters where a shark has been reported seen. The harmful sharks vary in length from t W•: to five meters. '{he whale sharks which grow as long a5 ten. ro sixteen meters are harrnles·5. Sharks. although oftentimes injurious to men. arc of great value. The fins are dried and eaten as a delicacy. You must have heard of shark fin soup. The skin is used for making a kind of leather and the meat and bo:i.es for fertilizer. Some fishes arc not good fo! o.:d because chey are poisonous or because they feed upon some poisonous things. Oftentimes people are poisoned because they C'at decayed fish. Only striccly fresh fish should be C'atC'n. Puffer or botcte and triggerfish or papakol arc poisonous. People who eat these fishes know th<it they arc poisonous but they deceive themselves into thinking that their way of preparing the fish is safe. Poisoning is marked with srvere pains in the stomach. It is not safe to eat fishes that you do not know to be perfectly edible. Some fishes do not have to be eatC'n to cause suf. fering or death. Some kinds have spines with poi· son sacs at the base. When a person steps on the fish he is pricked with the spine. A little poison is injected into the wound causing swelling and pair.. Some poisons are so powerful that death immediate!~· follows. When bathing or wading in shallow water. ·-people should avoid stepping on fishes. A merG scratch may cause pain for days. INTERESTING INSECTS THE DRAGON FLY Boys think it great fun to catch dragon flies. to hold their bodies and watch the flapping of the thin. glittering wings that spread out straight like those of an airplane. It may be fun to the boys but not so to the poor dragon fly. which finds joy only =n flying about and doing its work of helping man. How many kinds of dragon flies do you know? One kind has such a thin body that it is called "tutubing carayom" or needle dragon fly. Another has a stout body and is called "carabao dragon fly." Ju<;t like other insects. the dragon fly has six feet and a jointed body. It changes its skin severJI times while it grows. Have you seen the old skin that has been thrown away by an insect~ This dunging of the skin is called molting, The dragon fly is our friend. It likes to fly about a pond where it can hunt for food. It feeds upon mosquitoes. Now. can you tell why you should qot catch a dragon fly? When the dragon fly i'i roung. it liYes in the water. \)./hen there. it feeds upon the young mosquitoes callrd wrigglers. The wrigglers move fast, but the young dragon flies arc swifter. They catch wrigglers with something Iii<..<? a fly swatter. The little dragon fly wears a mask which can move up and down. When it is nea• enough a wriggler. it hold<; out its mask ro grab its prey and bring it to its mouth.

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