The big ones that didn't get away

Boy, those bigheads are heavy ! Raised in our ponds as an experiment, we nearly forgot about the bighead carps (Hypophthalmichthys nobilis) until a storm swept past Nueva Ecija and some "big fish with large heads" were caught in the nearby river. We later realized that the carp fry had matured and some escaped the flooded ponds into the nearby Cabu River. Over the years several species of native fishes have alternatingly dominated the pond population. The indigenous pond population consisted of a balanced and stable number of 'gouramis', 'liwalu', 'lukaok', 'hito', and 'dalag'. At one point the ponds were teeming with carnivorous species like mudfish or 'dalag' (Ophicephalus striatus) and native hito (Clarias macrocephalus). They were replaced for a short period by the highly prolific 'alembong' whose eggs were so numerous we used to make fish roe patties out of them. Then the 'tilapia' (Tilapia mossambica) took over and continue to be the dominant species...

A Moment Snatched

A hunched figure of a man beneath a dark cloth was making some adjustments with his bulky apparatus. Final instructions not to move were given and then there was a blinding flash ! Time had been stopped dead in its tracks ! For a few seconds I thought I had become blind. It is quite a frightening experience to have one's picture taken in those days. Days when everything looked big and we were small. Vivid memories of days spent in priceless child's play - the secret hiding places, the tall trees, the big dogs that chased us out of our wits, the armies of crabs, the first fish we caught, the hapless frogs and beetles and dragonflies that we held in our hands... Why is childhood so magical ? ©2007 rauleramos, md

Reverence For Life

That man is truly ethical who shatters no ice-crystal as it sparkles in the sun, tears no leaf from a tree, cuts no flower... The farmer who has mown down a thousand flowers in his meadow to feed his cows, must be careful on his way home not to strike off in heedless pastime the head of a single flower by the roadside, for he thereby commits a wrong against life without being under the pressure of necessity.
-Dr. Albert Schweitzer (1875-1965)