A Cormorant Named Jonah
Originally posted August 14th, 2008
When Kix, my Australian Shepherd, was nine weeks old, 
we kayaked together one evening up Lacamas Creek, near Vancouver, Washington. He wore a bright yellow dogie life jacket, a PFD, if you prefer, and despite being the smallest one I could find, it barely left a tiny black nose and gray bobbed tail, fore and aft respectively. The manufacturer had thoughtfully sewn a black web handle on top, so when I carried him, he looked more like a lunch box than a dog. There was also a ‘D’ ring next to the handle where I attached his leash.
This was his fourth trip with me since his first at seven weeks, which I think is why he was acting over confident when he stepped out of the boat a little too far from shore. He splashed headfirst before I could grab him, curing his over-confidence instantly — which if you know anything about Australian Shepherds, is not an easy accomplishment. I reeled him in, and he shivered and whimpered in my lap for the
next half hour, “nursing” on puppy kibble, until he fell sound asleep.
Parts of Lacamas Creek look like the film set of Creature from the Black Lagoon, especially in the failing light. On the return leg, the Sun had already set, but it was still light enough to read large print. A black Cormorant swam lazily in front of me. It was a perfect evening.
The Bass get aggressive that time in the evening, and often attack the hull of my boat. They are good-sized fish, and I don’t know if it is just my boat they don’t like, or if perhaps it looks to them to be a large fish, but they began striking me from underneath as they often did. I was pondering just how big those fish might be, and if they had posed a threat for Kix when he took his first unscheduled swimming lesson in that very spot an hour earlier. My thoughts turned to the Cormorant, just crossing my bow, a boat-length away.
POW-SPLASH, FEATHERS and SCALES … the bird was gone!
I couldn’t believe what I saw. A large Bass1 — I don’t know how big, swallowed the Cormorant whole. Just how big and how old would a Bass had to have been to be able to swallow a bird that size? And how would my answer sound to the person who asked what I used for bait, if I had reeled in something more than Kix an hour earlier?
1. Some have suggested this fish was likely not a Bass, but possibly a Tiger Muskie.
Categories: recreation
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