In this issue...

Reflections from the President

Earth Day

Spotted Gar Pike

Reflections on the Spring Chill

Why?

Nature Area Happenings

With Appreciation

From the Family Butterfly Book

Memorials

Mark Your Calendar

Newletter Sponsor

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Spotted Gar Pike
by Ingo Hasserodt

Picture copied from McClane's New Standard Fishing Encyclopedia and International Angling Guide

Every year in the fourth week of May there is a special event that takes place at the rocky shore of the seaplane base on Gibraltar Bay. The spotted gars are spawning!

After the female deposits her eggs on the rocks, the males are crowding in to fertilize them. They are totally oblivious to any observer from the shore and it is a great spectacle to watch. A particularly good spot is the culvert that connects Gibraltar Bay with the lagoon along the airport runway.

Lakes Erie and St. Clair are the northern limit of this species. They prefer weedy shallows like Gibraltar Bay. They grow to a maximum of about three feet, are mature in four years and are known to live up to eighteen years.

Gars are primitive, ancient fish, that can breathe air. Fossil records date back for one hundred million years. The spotted gar is a species of concern in Michigan and not very common. Although edible, they are not favored as food. Their roe is considered poisonous to humans and birds.

Next spring come and see these relics of prehistoric times do their thing!