The Wondrous Eel Comes Out Of Water To Feed

Eels are wondrous creatures. They are migratory fish whose dark, sleek, elongated bodies were the reason the science of olden days regarded them as water-serpents and there are still some elements in their living habits that leave contemporary naturalists puzzled.

The eel is wondrous in its ability to move. It is often found in ponds, rivers, lakes and often burrowed in mud, and knowing that eels are born in the ocean the observer is left failing to find the connection between these water masses. On rainy nights, eels are known to cross overland from a pond to a river, or jump over an obstacle, entire groups of them, by means of making bridges with each other’s moist bodies. Their young can climb moss-covered upright barriers, making a braid with their bodies. Some farmers report that on spring nights eels are seen leaving water streams and finding their way into their vegetable patches and into their peas. The journeys billions of grownup eels make yearly from rivers to oceans span thousands of miles are among the most fascinating unseen migrations of any living being on the planet. This is the reason why the following video should not come to you as a surprise.

This video has come to us from Battle Hill Farm Forest Park, Paekakariki, New Zealand. The author of the video made on April 8th went on an outing there in order to feed the eels. You can see an entire bed of eels swiveling their sleek bodies one atop the other trying to snatch pieces of bread for themselves, going out of the water to a large extent and showing a typical amphibian behavior. In other words, like a pit of eerie hungry snakes our ancient scientist thought them to be.