By Regina Montana – Nature Friend Magazine, February 2023

The Amazing American Eel

by Regina Montana | Feb 1, 2023 | 0 comments

View the February 2023 Nature Friend Magazine

Far away in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean is a sea called the Sargasso Sea. It is a gigantic clockwork of currents called a gyre, where millions of American and European eels are born every year. Over one hundred species of fish, snails, crabs, turtles, and eels make their homes and are born in the mats of seaweed called sargassum. These mats of seaweed can stretch for miles. The baby eels, called larvae, ride the ocean currents till they reach North America and Europe, sometimes taking up to a year to arrive on the American shores. Scientists do not know why some larvae drift toward American shores while others drift for two more years toward Europe.

Now one of nature’s most incredible transformations begins. The skin and internal organs of the eels change in order to adapt to living in fresh water after living in salt water.

Following the larva stage, the eels become glass eels. They are now 2-3 inches (5-7.5 cm) long with elongated bodies, prominent black eyes, and developed fins. They are between seven and twelve months old when they reach coastal water.

Glass eels then turn into elvers. They grow several more inches and develop pigmentation, becoming dark gray, and form a thick and slippery mucous layer. If you try to pick one up, you will learn they are as slippery as an eel!

The elver stage is followed by the juvenile or yellow eel stage, and finally by the silver or mature adult eel, which can reach lengths of 2-5 feet (.6-1.5 m) Their coloration can vary.

The American eel usually hunts at night. During the day, it hides in gravel, sand, masses of plants, or other forms of shelter. In the winter, eels burrow under mud and enter a state of torpor, or inactivity. However, they may become active at times.

These eels can travel up to 4,000 miles (6,400 km) in a lifetime. American eels can live up to thirty years, and, at the end of their life, they swim back to the Sargasso Sea. Some scientists believe the Earth’s magnetic field helps eels find their way back home. Once again their bodies undergo dramatic changes. They stop eating; their skin thickens; their eye size doubles, improving their vision in deep, dark water; and their pectoral fins enlarge for the long swim back. After months of travel, they produce new offspring. These larvae will begin their life’s journey. The adult eels’ work is done.

Now that is one fantastic voyage.

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BABY GLASS EELS – HUDSON RIVER EEL PROJECT – 2019

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ADULT AMERICAN EEL – Photo by John M. Casselman, Dept of Biology, Queen’s University, Ontario, Canda

Read to Me

by Regina Montana

An article about a new program sponsored by the ASPCA recently appeared in the newspaper.  It described how volunteers are reading to abused dogs in preparing them for adoption.   I was very moved and wrote the following poem.

Read to Me

People hurt me.

I never knew why.

I want to forget.

I have to try.

I’m in a shelter now.

It’s different here.

They bring lots of books.

I have less fear.

If you read to me,

you’ll see my heart.

Your voice will heal.

I’ll find a new start.

I’m just a dog.

Don’t throw me away.

Please read to me.

I’ll be whole one day.

On July 2, 2016 an uninvited guest showed up in our front yard.  I was aghast as my husband called out to come quickly to the top of our driveway.  He had been weeding alongside a small evergreen tree when his gloved hand came within an inch of a four-foot long black snake that then slithered away from us as we looked on in amazement.  But not before it stopped and coiled up, ready to strike in case we dared come any closer.

I grabbed my iPhone and began to videotape the snake as he made his way toward cover, narrating for my grandson the arrival of this most unwelcomed visitor.  Attempting to mask the fear in my voice, I told him the snake was just being a snake and trying to get away from us.   We watched as the nearly 48-inch-long, maybe even 60 inch-long, black creature disappeared into some low-lying brush.

My cousin, a Master Gardner, later said it might be a Black Racer and if it were, it would be beneficial for our yard since this species will eat small rodents, frogs and voles.  I have to admit it’s a very cool name for an animal that does not summon a lot of positive feeling when seen in the wild, or in one’s backyard.  I like to think of my surroundings as a haven for robins, cardinals, chipmunks and squirrels, not crawling reptiles.

I prefer to see them in a controlled environment – behind glass in a zoo.  I have no problem with an occasional garter snake;  they are fairly cute.  Last year one made his home in a narrow opening between a sliding door and cement step leading out to a patio.  I could peer out at him every so often and see him in the crack where he apparently enjoyed some welcomed shade.   I made up stories about him for my grandson and named him Sherman.  When we no longer could find him, I explained he had most likely returned to his family in the woods.

This year may be different.  I’ll have to come up with an endearing story, this time about the four-footer.  It won’t be easy, but calling him a Black Racer (even if he is not that species) will light up the eyes of this five-year-old, hopefully making him less fearful and allowing his imagination to run wild, conjuring up all kinds of possibilities as to the snake’s whereabouts and activities.  I, on the other hand, will be very happy never to see him again.  The reality is, however, that he is very likely somewhere in the yard, as afraid of meeting me as I am of him.

Black Racer makes it into our local newspaper, The Gazette

On December 16, 2015 we lost our beloved mother, grandmother, great grandmother, mother-in-law and friend, Marie Montana. She will be missed forever by many people and looked up to as a role model by just about anyone who had the privilege of knowing her.   I loved her as if she were my own mother and will remember her gentle style, loving care, concern, modesty and kindness.  She had it all and then some.   I have no memory of a negative or critical comment toward me, her daughter-in-law.   Sandy, Jerry and I all called her “Mom” since there was never a question in our minds that she was like a mother to each of us.  She would always say, “Isn’t that beautiful” if you related the most ordinary event to her.  Of course looking back some of the ordinary events in life are the most beautiful.  Thank you, dear mother Marie, for all you gave and all you were to us.  We will never forget you and we look forward to being with you again in heaven.