"Swimming with the fishes" and Other "Beasties"
The crew was energetic and a little nervous this morning for our task at hand, piranha fishing. Our imaginations teamed with ravenous schools of flesh devouring mini-monsters. All we needed to do was dip our fingers or raw beef on hooks into the river and the flesh would instantly be attacked in a liquefied flurry.
It turns out fishing for piranha is very similar to any other... bait the hook, toss it in the water, wait, wait some more, get bored, look at the birds and miss "the hit".
Fortunately, someone got lucky and happened to inadvertently pull the rod at the instant of piranha attack.
Oh, the "Bingo Winning Luck" of the Navimag must have rubbed off a little, because there was a little carnivore on my hook. (Come-on pucker up fishy.) Once we found the school everyone started pulling in the piranha. They would be part of our lunch today, so we were motivated by the experience and hunger. Those pesky little buggers were definitely crafty, leaving empty hooks more often than not. By the end of the morning, there must have been more beef eaten in the river than the pound weight of fish retrieved.
Having watched a Discovery Channel show on piranha, I was armed with the discrete knowledge that piranha typically will only eat dead flesh. So the guide and I jumped into the middle of the piranha haven for a quick dip. We were only joined by one other brave soul.
Ironically, the power of these little scavengers wasn't fully appreciated until eating them at lunch.
These miniature eating machines are all teeth and jaw. Many land based omnivores or carnivores would be envious of these dentin dynamos.
The reward for catching, cleaning, and cooking piranha is little more than a few bone choked bites of sweet white meat. The spines of backbone could easily be used for needles. There is nothing soft about this fish. Even the more flexible rib bones could make quick work of the roof of your mouth or cheeks, but experiencially the careful effort was part of the reward.
In the afternoon, we transitioned from potential predator to prey. The group traveled upriver, armed with inner tubes. The first animal appearance was unintimidating, but continues to raise the "moth or butterfly" debate. Here are the "moth points": it rests with wings open, wide body, and hairy. Single "butterfly point": straight, non-fern-like, knobbed antennae. Ok, entomologists, which is it or is this a blue winged hybrid?
A more serious threat would be the myriad display of alligators and cayman lining the banks. Actually we learned that they are more afraid of us than vice-versa, which was just a little comforting, inner tube floating down the river at their eye level.
The only real threat of a very pleasant afternoon was this blurred figure and his mate. These were giant sea otters, which sound docile enough but these buggers lost a few intimidation reflexes in the evolution chain. They will "take on" an aluminum boat without much thought at all. They were, in fact, the only creatures our guide showed any trepidation of or reflex against.
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