Hunt Smart, Fish Hard: The Snakehead

Many years ago, back when I lived in New Jersey, the malls were not open on Sundays. It was called the Blue Law or something to that effect. Time passed and soon the malls where allowed to open on Sundays. The Dover Mall was a big mall. A few of my friends and I were going to the mall to see this one type of fish they had in the aquarium. There was a lot of talk going on about this fish called the snakehead fish. There was talk that the snakehead could walk on dry ground and live out of water for three days.

All week we talked about the snakehead and we were going to the mall to see this snakehead. Sunday came and we are going to the mall. We finally make it to the aquarium shop. We asked the guy if that pike-looking fish was the snakehead. He said, “Yes.” There were signs on the glass that said “Do not tap on glass or you will be asked to leave.” As we asked some questions and the guy told us he needed a special permit to have the snakehead.

As we watched the snakehead it never moved. We asked the guy if we could see the fish get fed. He told us to step back and watch how fast this fish attacks its prey.

There’s more to this in the current issue of the Times Virginian newspaper. Support local journalism by purchasing the issue at a local newsstand or subscribing at www.timesvirginian.com/subscriber_services to receive the print edition or view the full article in the e-edition version.