This trout might have been a very competitive eater.
A 19-inch Rainbow Trout has been reeled in and cut open to reveal a whopping 19 intact shrews in its stomach. Now that's one fish belly you would not be too keen to eat.
Researchers from the Togiak National Wildlife Refuge had been catching Rainbow Trout somewhere in Southern Alaska, for tracking, and discovered that one of the fish they had caught was bleeding and not going to survive for long. The curious biologists then went to see what was causing the fish so much suffering-and pulled out 19 mouse-sized shrews.
Consuming rodents is not uncommon for Rainbow Trout, with fishermen sometimes baiting them with bits of fur that resembled drowning mice; the fish enjoy a bite of rodent as much as the next predator, but nineteen is pushing a record. Previous record for most rodents inside a fish belly was in a Grayling Trout, with seven furry critters.
Trout are opportunistic predators, simply meaning that if they get an opportunity to eat anything, they would not have second thoughts about it; such is the quality of top predators. Other things that trout love to eat are insects, salmon eggs, other small fish, voles, mice...one theory for the recently deceased trout's last meal could have been a collapsed nest spilling nineteen of the unfortunate brood of shrews into the water, with one lucky little trout nearby. Shrews are known to be very bad swimmers, a trait which ultimately meant a sad day for shrews, and a lucky last meal for this famous trout.
Fish have been known to feed heavily in the summer, fit to burst, their digestive tracts expanding to accommodate their seasonal gluttony. This is in preparation for the coming winter, wherein all they do is be sedentary and digest the extra food for the rest of the season.
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