Jul 5th, 2015

Author: donich_admin

Eel Rescue

R and I were going for our walk this morning and got to the bottom of the drive when he spotted something in the middle of the road. It was a snake like creature around 20cm long and was lying very still. At first I thought it was a slow worm, but then I saw the shape of the head and realized it was a young eel. Eels are fascinating creatures with an interesting life cycle and often cross wet grassland in order to reach rivers leading to the sea (like the Donich). This one had obviously got a bit lost and wasn’t going to make it to the river without help.

At first I thought it was dead, but when I touched it, it wriggled a bit. So I picked it up and scrambled down the bank to the Donich. I put it on a rock by the side of the water, it gave one enormous squrim, jumped into the river and swam off at speed.

So that was the ‘one that got away’ for today (other days it is snails and caterpillars which I always try to rescue if I see them on the road. It always makes me happy for the rest of the day when something nice happens first thing in the morning.