Longshoring on the Amazon

These pictures were taken in Leticia, Colombia during December 2009.
Unloading fish and pigs from river boats is hot work in the humid Amazonian heat.

Cooking a Plecostomus

The following is an entry I made when I was in Leticia, Colombia, on the Amazon River in December, 2009. I was not able to upload it at that time and place.

"Quien madruga, Dios le ayuda", that is "God helps those who get up early". I have never been an early riser, but I have been wrenching myself from bed at 5 am the last couple of days because that is when things happen here along the river. Boats are unloading at first light and the market is in full swing before 6. Small craft come in loaded to the gunnels with fish on ice. I don't know where they get the ice though - they sell it on the docks, but it wouldn't last long in this heat. Maybe larger boats with refrigeration provide ice up the tributaries where they catch the fish.

River water is muddy, so visual lures are useless. It is necessary to use bait the fish can smell. I am told piranas are a nuisance if you are trying to catch something larger, but they make good bait on a big hook.

Among other fish, I notice they catch red tail cats, which Wikipedia says are not eaten because they have dark meat according to a book by Herbert Axelrod. Well that is bullshit; red tail meat is not especially dark and people are buying them in the market without reservation.

I had a red tail cat which lived by itself in an 130 gallon tank until the aquarium sprung a leak in the middle of the night and I had to kill my pet. I was more attached to that fish than any I have had; I would catch night crawlers for it every time it rained and it would come to the surface whenever I entered the room, waving its foot long barbels above the water.

Notice the dark colored fish in the top photo; these are plecostomuses, an armored catfish I would have considered inedible, but people here tell me they make good soup stock. I always kept a plecostomus in each tank because they eat the slime and algae off the glass and keep the tank clean. My plecos also enjoyed zucchini, and for a long time my son wouldn't eat that vegetable because he considered it fish food.

From Vancouver Aquarium and from my own tanks I also recognize arrawanas, red hooks, piranas, pacus (kind of a big vegetarian version of piranas) and oscars. Some of the cat fish have heads over a foot wide. I have not seen them landing any piraracus and I suspect they may be fishing them out; I think I should avoid eating them.

Richardson's Ground Squirrels, AKA Gophers

I just went back to Alberta for a family reunion and had a chance to photograph some Richardson's Ground Squirrels. "Gophers" we called them, when I was a murderous kid with a .22 rifle on a farm in Saskatchewan in the 1950's. I thought shooting gophers was fine sport until I discovered that all I had to do was sit very still with the muzzle of my gun at the entrance of the hole the animal had gone down, and pull the trigger when it stuck its head up again. I killed one gopher that way and afterwards I left them alone.

Sluggish Sex

Hey buddy/honey? Wanna get it on? I'll stick my whanger in your hole, and you stick YOUR whanger in MY hole. And afterwards we'll each go and lay eggs. Look closely and you can see both penises. Slugs are hermaphroditic - don't tell the Pope; IT'S UNNATURAL!

The proposition was accepted and I caught this couple hanging from a thread of slime off my porch In flagrante delicto. They completely ignored my flashlight, not the least bit shy at being photographed.

The Cats Are In The Bags

Nylon grocery bags make a great way to transport your kitties. Cats like going into the bags because it feels cosy in there, and if there are 2 of them , they can feel each other through the fabric.

Tie the handles together, leaving just enough room for the cat to get his head out and look around. Then put the seat belt through the handles so the cats are secured in case of an accident.

Voter Tax Credit

Canada and the United States fail as democracies because not enough people vote. For example, in the USA less than 57% of the voting age population voted in the presidential election of 2008. In the Canadian 2008 federal election less than 59% voted.

Some countries try to counteract low turnout by making voting compulsory, but doing that has enforcement problems and smacks of coercion.

What I propose is a Voter Tax Credit: you get to deduct $100 from your taxes in any year in which you vote in all elections for which you are eligible. If you don't owe any taxes, you get a $100 cheque from the government. If you only vote in one out of two elections in a given year, you get $50. The $100 amount is increased proportionate to the cost of living increases.

It is my belief that democratic participation increases civic responsibility. Therefore it is good to tie income redistribution to civic participation, which the Voter Tax Credit does. Those who take part in making the law will have greater respect for the law.