Hogchokers and other Hudson River finds

September

“You could choke a hog with that fish” is actually how the hogchoker, a flat, bottom-dwelling fish found up and down the East Coast, got its name.

Farmers used to feed the fish to their livestock. The small fish’s rough scales could cause them to get stuck in an animal’s throat and lead to choking. Case closed.

A seining expedition along the Hudson River this past weekend pulled up several of the brown fish. See photo. The event was part of the Hudson Valley River Rambles.

Three times, the net was pulled through the river and each time it came up full of flopping, wriggling flashes of silver and an occasional blue crab. My 6-year-old daughter took the crab photo above. I like it because you can really see the blue of the claws against Tom Lake’s shirt.

Lake is a naturalist with the state Department of Environmental Conservation’s Hudson River Estuary Program. I mentioned him in this earlier post about wild celery. Want to see what’s in the Hudson? Head to Croton Point Park on Saturday.

This entry was posted on Thursday, September 25th, 2008 at 2:22 pm by Mike Risinit.
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