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Post by aztec on Jan 18, 2008 12:08:20 GMT 12
When he wants a change of scenery he slithers across the grass to the other pond. He only does it when the grass is wet after the irrigator has been on for a time. The distance would be 12-15 metres maybe
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Post by certegy on Jan 18, 2008 12:18:35 GMT 12
What's the name of your eel (hahaha) I made friends with an eel when I was at highschool - I called him ernie - he was actually one of the eels that would eventually be dissected by the science students poor bugger - I think eels are very cute with their big ole mouths and little eyes - kinda like certain people on another messageboard ***WAVING**** Hello Sully - (see ya wouldn't wanna be ya) Leigh ;D
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Post by OasisNZ on Jan 18, 2008 12:27:28 GMT 12
You are sooooooo cheeky Leigh, LOL! I love eels too, there are tame eels at the Jester House, a great little cafe, about half way between Nelson and Motueka, www.theboot.co.nz/jesterhousecafe.php , will get some pics next time we go for a coffee.
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Post by mamamia on Jan 18, 2008 12:39:32 GMT 12
We used to go eeling at the creek beside us when I was 5 years old lol, we used string and a safety pin, also got freshwater lobsters and we would light a fire in the back yard and put an ename bowl of water on top with them in and while they were cooking we would go and pick watercress from the creek to have with bread and the lobsters and eels. They must have been yummy cos we did it lots of times Pretty clever anaconda you got there aztec lol!
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Post by aztec on Jan 18, 2008 12:44:16 GMT 12
What's the name of your eel (hahaha) I made friends with an eel when I was at highschool - I called him ernie - he was actually one of the eels that would eventually be dissected by the science students poor bugger - I think eels are very cute with their big ole mouths and little eyes - kinda like certain people on another messageboard ***WAVING**** Hello Sully - (see ya wouldn't wanna be ya) Leigh ;D It doesn't have a name, we just call it the anaconda. Always knows when I go down there with some mince. Years ago there used to be a group of tame eels in the Karangahake Gorge at the cafe until some mean buggers decided that they would be better smoked and cleaned them out, so we don't tell too many people about ours
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Post by ivyplus on Jan 18, 2008 12:48:45 GMT 12
What's the name of your eel (hahaha) I made friends with an eel when I was at highschool - I called him ernie - he was actually one of the eels that would eventually be dissected by the science students poor bugger - I think eels are very cute with their big ole mouths and little eyes - kinda like certain people on another messageboard ***WAVING**** Hello Sully - (see ya wouldn't wanna be ya) Leigh ;D It doesn't have a name, we just call it the anaconda. Always knows when I go down there with some mince. Years ago there used to be a group of tame eels in the Karangahake Gorge at the cafe until some mean buggers decided that they would be better smoked and cleaned them out, so we don't tell too many people about ours I like eels more too when they are alive! They probably are looking forward when you come with the mince.
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Post by certegy on Jan 18, 2008 14:00:03 GMT 12
I would love to see a picture of Ana - eels are very smart creatures actually I use to hand feed the eels at school. I love all these YOP pets there are so many of them.
EEL - Anaconda (hahaha classic)
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Post by ladeda on Jan 18, 2008 17:18:09 GMT 12
We have friendly eels in our stream. Here's D doing a "Steve Irwin" with Mr Big (actually, all eels are female and migrate to Indonesia to mate). He managed to throw it up onto the bank but it squiggled and sqirmed it's way back to the water.
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Post by misilon on Jan 18, 2008 20:51:29 GMT 12
ugh!! I cant hack eels ,...dont like them alive or dead or cooked and smoked yuk!!,...my dutch friend loves them boiled bleeeeeaaark !!!
actually Im a little bit frightened of them ,....my brothers and uncles use ta throw them at me ,.... I try tho for my little ones ,..I wont let them know how I feel,.. but I stay well away from the appreciative crowd hehe!! when we visit the places where there are pet ones
wonderful pics ladeda,.... ugh it is looking at me,....aarrgggghhhh!!!
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Post by OasisNZ on Jan 18, 2008 21:33:53 GMT 12
Awesome pics Karen, have often wondered about the lifecycle of our humble eel, did a bit of a google and found this interesting info on the niwa site... www.niwa.cri.nz/ncfa/aquaspecies/eelEels spend part of their life cycle in seawater and part in freshwater, with the spawning grounds of our native eels thought to lie hundreds of kilometres away in deep ocean trenches near Tonga. The delicate leptocephalus larvae ride on oceanic currents back to New Zealand, where they turn into tiny glass eels just before entering freshwater. Eels are well adapted to upstream migration, being good climbers. They have an important ecological role as top predators in our freshwater once they grow beyond a metre, feeding on koura, insects and fish. In the wild, eels reach sexual maturity after 20–50 years and they then migrate back to the tropics to spawn, after which they die. Not sure how accurate that information is, ("thought to lie", and "20-50 years" sounds a little vague, to say the least!) as I have also heard that some eels live to at least 100 years old, I am guessing that some simply don't return to the ocean and prefer to live out their days free from the hassle of childbirth, LOL! ;D
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Post by misilon on Jan 19, 2008 8:36:46 GMT 12
gee when we lived in Waipukarau over 30 yrs ago our freezer was chocka block with big fat huge eels,...it was a normal occurance to catch 4 ft long, 19 pounders The biggest one Id seen was a 21 pound, over 4 foot long one, yukkky!!....wish I had pics wonders how old those were ?
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Post by ladeda on Jan 19, 2008 8:44:25 GMT 12
I think the landlocked ones, like at Lake Rotoiti, can live over a 100yrs?
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Post by meandog on Jan 19, 2008 8:54:46 GMT 12
;D Back in the days of duck shooting in the Waikato, my father and I trapped them and sold them to a fish shop in Ellerslie. The money we got helped to pay for our beer and shotgun cartridges. I have seen eels in the swamp grab a duck which we have shot and take down out of site. They must hook it into the weed below so they can feast on it. Many ducks have their legs bitten off by eels. There is nowhere near the population now of eels as there use to be.
A farmer where we use to park our cars at Mercer, had a huge trap on a forked tree branch, he use to put it in the river with the tractor, catch a large amount of eels and then drag it to his pig sty and let the eels out for the pigs. The only thing was he had to stop this a few weeks before slaughter as the pork would have had a fishy flavour.
I tried to get my father to come in with me to fish for eels on a commercial basis, but he would not. About a year later the first eel factory in this country was opened. That could have been us if the old man had a bit more ambition.Grrrrr!!!!
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Post by certegy on Jan 19, 2008 9:29:01 GMT 12
ugh!! I cant hack eels ,...dont like them alive or dead or cooked and smoked yuk!!,...my dutch friend loves them boiled bleeeeeaaark !!! actually Im a little bit frightened of them ,....my brothers and uncles use ta throw them at me ,.... I try tho for my little ones ,..I wont let them know how I feel,.. but I stay well away from the appreciative crowd hehe!! when we visit the places where there are pet ones wonderful pics ladeda,.... ugh it is looking at me,....aarrgggghhhh!!! Ooooh Misi **hugs** family members can be such dorks. I could never eat an eel but as punishment when I was a young girl my uncle "BANDY" made me gut eels, salt them down and hang them on the clothes line ooooh my giddy aunt I wanted to puke so bad because I was a city kid and my country cousins were laughing there heads off Uuuuummm ..... the night before hand I went eeling with my aunty makare and uncle bandy and I caught my first eel and was so overcome with joy I offered it to the gods and threw it on our camp fire (the eel was dead - but I didn't kill it, my cousin Irena was happy to assist in that department). Anywhooo thinking that I was paying homage to the great eel god out of the darkness a sharp sting fell upon my ear and my aunty makare told me that you are "never to waste food" so as my punishment the next day I had to gut/clean and process all of the eels - it will be an experience I will never forget Wanganui river - Summer, 1985 BTW La - I love the picture of the eels face - what a noble looking creature.
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Post by ladeda on Jan 19, 2008 9:32:52 GMT 12
In season, NZ eels are exported to Holland.
I grew up with traditional Dutch food and Dad would bring home smoked eels every Friday. Now, I like feeding and watching them.
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Post by mamamia on Jan 19, 2008 10:44:22 GMT 12
I've gone off eels lol! I went to the Eel place up at Datgaville years ago and they had these big vats/tubs literally squirming with eels, goes and stands with misi
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Post by OasisNZ on Nov 5, 2008 5:20:36 GMT 12
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Post by certegy on Nov 5, 2008 18:35:11 GMT 12
I love eels - I wouldn't like to eat them but I think they are very cute.
Nice pictures O
;D
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