Travis' eel story

(chuckle) Okay, where to begin. Chris has a funny way of avoiding even perceived danger, no matter how insignificant it may seem to those surrounding him. For example, when we first arrived in our new abode, there was a "slight" rodent infestation. On rare occasions, while watching TV in the living room, we might see a brown flash near the back of the TV. Well, Chris might appear to be calmly watching TV, but I think he has "pest radar". I am a rather laid back sort, therefore the first evidence of a problem that I would notice is Chris scrambling on top of furniture and telling anyone within earshot to "get it!" When I ask "Get what?", Chris would reply "Didn't you see it?!?". Chris would not come down from the furniture until we had captured the pest, or convinced him that it was no longer a threat. Then, usually without another word, pick up his drinks and snacks and retire to his sleeping area for the remainder of the evening and not come out again until the next morning. I swear it is like watching the old Tom and Jerry cartoons where the lady would jump on the furniture whenever Jerry would appear! This behaviour and "pest radar" is duplicated whenever we he see's a flyin pest, too.

Moving on to the eel story. Paul has become very skilled at "snagging" eels that are meandering too close to the shore line. When Paul observes said eel, he will grab the fishing pole that has a triple hook; it kinda looks like a tiny anchor with barbs. Then Paul will cast the line over the back of the eel, reel in slowly until the hook is close then snatch the line hoping to snare the eel with the hook. He has done this on a few occasions, but Scott has also caught an eel or two the old fashioned way . . . with a baited hook. No one is more excited than Chris when a fish is caught, or even an eel. However, the eels look and act suspiciously like snakes with fish fins. This is where I suppose I should qualify my earlier comments pertaining to Chris running like a little girl. (He read my earlier entry and has prompted this story by way of explanation.) Chris doesn't "really" run like a little girl. However, he does put on a display that is quite funny to me! Bear with me while I go off on another tangent, it will help me illustrate Chris's behaviour. I was raised in a rural setting where rats, snakes and the like were pretty common occurrences. We would go as far as to catch and play with the ones that we knew were not poisonous. One of the funniest things you will ever see is a dog that has found a snake. The dog will creep up on the snake, stre-e-e-etch it's head out and try to get a sniff of the snake without getting to close. Usually the snake doesn't want anything to do with the dog and will strike out even if it is not poisonous. This causes the dog to jump back or even retreat, do some barking and then try to approach the snake again, often from a different angle to avoid the head of the snake. If you have stayed with me this far, picture the snake as an eel and the dog as Chris and you will have a pretty fair idea of what Chris looks like when one of the guys catches an eel! I wish you could see it in real life!

Here ya go, Chris. Now everyone knows that you don't really "run like a little girl" when you see an eel, though I am not sure if you will like this description much better!

Rhea Jo, hope you liked the story!