[I had planned to write a blog on poop (stay tuned, who could resist the topic?), but am a tad under the weather, so I’m just going to post this for your amusement…
You’ve heard of fish falling from the sky, yes? Apparently it is more common that one might predict. A quick internet search found multiple references to such events, many of them quite credible. They can even fall by the hundreds, as experienced by the residents of a small town in Australia. But I’ve never known anyone who could beat the story of my veterinarian, Dr. John Dally, who lives on the Wisconsin River, and below the flight path of a Bald Eagle flying between her nest to her fishing grounds on a daily basis. Imagine John’s surprise when he went outside early in the morning to pick up a dish pan, and a fish fell out of the sky into the pan he was carrying. Plop. Apparently he had whistled for his dog when he picked up the pan, and it startled an eagle sitting above him into dropping the fish. The fish hit the gutter of the house, bounced onto John’s forehead and into the pan. Apparently John isn’t the only one who has had a fish fall on his head.
Here’s Dr. John, just moments after his most successful fishing trip and after he told his wife what had happened:
MEANWHILE, back on the farm: A lovely weekend, including a long dog walk with friends and a fun open house/pot luck at Dr. John’s while he and his wife Anne (both vets bless them) boiled maple sap to make their own maple syrup. Here’s the sap boiling away:
And here are the resident goats. Yup, they really do eat everything, including paper plates with yummy pie filling on them. (Don’t worry, the plate consumption was carefully monitored. Apparently there is such a thing as “too many paper plates,” even if one is a goat.) But hey, I do make good pie. 🙂
Diane says
Looking forward to the scoop on poop. Hope you feel better and hopefully the potential blog wasn’t too relevant!
I have nothing by jets flying overhead…..better think twice about whistling for my dog!
Chris from Boise says
Combining this and your future post: Many (many!) years ago I volunteered at the Suncoast Seabird Sanctuary near St. Petersburg, Florida. It was a hospital for injured, ill and orphaned wild birds, and a large chunk of its patients at any given time were brown pelicans. One of its directors called me to report, with great mirth, that a pelican had flown overhead while she was taking her breakfast coffee on the beach, and dropped a load (and I don’t mean fish) right into her coffee cup. She wasn’t sure if it was meant as a complaint or a compliment, so chose to take it as the latter.
Marjorie says
Fish falling from the sky is a common occurance in my neck of the coast, Nova Scotia. I almost got hit by a mackerel while waiting for the bus once. My sister had one dropped on the hood of her car, but never one landing conveniently in the pan, now that is just plain good luck!
Love the goats! Sorry to hear you not feeling well, hope you have a speedy recovery. I have to ask, in your picture is that a sheep skin over the fire and under the boiling pot of syrup???
Monika says
Oh my gosh, the goats are beyond adorable. Feel better soon.
Mihaela says
Maybe that eagle be trained to repeat the trick? Maybe with a clicker and a bit of your yummy pie (which seems to be an inter-species success) as a reward. Imagine getting fresh fish like that whenever you feel like it! Hope you feel better soon.
Sami Gray says
Looking forward to the poop column. See my review of the Pet Poo Pocket Guide in current Bark Magazine. Dog poop composting has been around for about 30 years, but author Rose Seeman was the first to market s safe, horticulturally effective line of compost and potting soil made from composted dog poop. Now she has written a book for DIY-ers, with an array of options for sustainable disposal and upcycling.
http://www.newsociety.com/Books/P/The-Pet-Poo-Pocket-Guide
(No, I’m not on the payroll- just informed and enthusiastic).
Crystal says
I once found one in my outdoor dog water bowl. Obviously, that fish made a last-ditch effort to find a new, watery home 🙂
LisaW says
That is a great story. If I had a fish fall out of the sky into my pan, I’d think the rest of the day was going to be pretty darn good.
It’s all about perspective, isn’t it. Really bad day for the fish, bad day for the eagle, and lucky day for John.
I want to know what he did with the fish. Eat it? Stuff it? Leave it on the roof and hope the eagle came back for it?
Kelly Schlesinger says
And sometimes the fish don’t fall. I saw a blue heron swoop down to our koi pond, grab a huge fish, then struggle into the air hanging onto his gasping, wiggling prize. I pictured that bird telling his friends about the easy pickings and thought for sure the rest of our fish were goners. But he never came back – I think the greedy bugger choked.
Todd Monroe says
While weeding my front yard today in Ottawa Hills(Toledo),Ohio and a quarter mile from a creek, I heard something whizzing past my head and loudly hit my house. Thunk! I thought a bird had committed suicide or had misjudged the height of our three story Tudor house. As I got closer to the dead animal I recognized the smell of fish and low and behold I found a dead fish lying in our front garden bed. I looked down the road to see if anyone had thrown the fish at me or my house but no one could be seen. Suddenly I noticed a Bald Eagle flying overhead and back towards the meadow where the creek runs through. The fish had been gutted by the eagle and only its outer carcass remained. When I brought my wife out to view the fish finding and told her of it whizzing past my head and hitting the house loudly, her response was,”your ex-wife is back in town!” I stopped weeding at that point believing this occurrence to be a bad omen.
Laurie Tikhonova says
I was on Owens Beach in Tacoma, WA and we were cooking some sausage in a grill about 3 feet from the tide. It’s a large beach but only a few people were out because it was a bit cold out. Suddenly, something hit my head pretty hard and I thought maybe some kids behind me threw a frisbee or something. Then I saw a man running down the beach screaming “did you see that? Did you SEE that?” I looked down right next to me and there was a large lingcod wiggling around next to me, alive but with huge claw chunks in him. It was too big for the eagle and he dropped it right on my head! We took it home and ate it but the whole time we were out there, that eagle was stalking us wanting his fish back. I kind of felt bad for him because it was a great catch. We fed 5 people with that fish!
Gary Burrell says
Your blog post on ‘Fish Falling From the Sky’ is both fascinating and entertaining! The phenomenon of fish raining down is indeed curious and not something most of us would expect to witness. The story of Dr. John Dally and his accidental catch is particularly amusing. It’s incredible to think that a casual morning routine could turn into a fish-catching adventure, thanks to an eagle’s timing!
Your recount of this event highlights a quirky and unexpected side of nature. It’s a reminder of how the animal world can intersect with our daily lives in the most surprising ways. The image of a fish bouncing off a gutter, hitting someone on the forehead, and landing in a dish pan sounds like something out of a cartoon!
I also enjoyed reading about your weekend activities, especially the part about making your own maple syrup. It’s wonderful how you’re connecting with nature and engaging in sustainable practices. The anecdote about the goats and their penchant for paper plates adds a delightful touch to your story, showcasing the charming unpredictability of farm life.
I’m looking forward to your upcoming blog on the topic of poop – it’s certainly a unique subject that piques curiosity! Keep sharing these wonderful stories; they add a touch of whimsy and a lot of knowledge to our understanding of the natural world. Also, I hope you feel better soon!