Friday, September 13, 2013

Brook, rainbow, and brown trout feeding frenzy


This first video was taken today during our 11 am trout feeding program the Mountain Cove Exhibit. The main exhibit has three distinct sections: brown trout (immediately below the waterfall), the mountain stream (home to darters and dace, including the P. rex), and this portion which is a combination of approximately 14 each of rainbow trout and brook trout. The trout are fed GrowMax trout chow every M, W, F, Sunday during the public feeding and a variety of natural foods on the days in between. Each section, including these trout, breed at least once a year. In fact, the largest female brown trout released eggs this morning. We generally do not collect and raise the eggs - the trout eat them otherwise - unless we have a specific need, but there are both brooks and rainbows currently in this exhibit that we raised from eggs a few seasons ago.
The second video is of the brown trout feeding. The largest female is approximately 12 pounds and is over nine years old.

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