What’s your favorite pet you’ve ever had? For me, it’s my bullhead catfish.
Unconventional, I know, but all of my pets have been animals native to Maryland. I think it’s because growing up, I loved (and still love!) going to nature centers. The first one I can remember is the nature center at Deep Creek Lake State Park, but I also frequently went to the one at Rocky Gap State Park when it was open and the one in Wheaton Regional Park.
Being in so many nature centers, I wanted to have one too! When most little kids were asked what they wanted to be when they grew up, they all said firefighters or police officers. But I was different. I wanted to own a nature center.
I even made little information sheets about each of my “exhibits” just like the nature centers had. No one ever saw them except my parents and friends, but hey, it was just for fun. I think the red-spotted newts were my favorite. My friend had a pond teeming with so many of them that we used lures that resembled newts to catch the bass in the pond. I think I was fascinated by their proficiency on land and water. They basked like my turtle, but chased prey in the water like my fish. They were really funny too, waddling over one another and trying to steal crickets from each other’s mouths. Someday I’ll do a species profile on them. They’re really common throughout Maryland, but most people don’t get to see them.
I also had eastern cricket frogs, but they only lasted a week. They were way too loud at night in my room so for the sake of sleeping I let them go. Not having learned my lesson I next got a bullfrog from a friend. That frog was even louder at night. He got let go too.
I added a few long-tailed salamanders to the newt tank, and they did not like the newts at all. Oftentimes they’d be on complete opposite sides of the tank. These are also probably one of Maryland’s most common salamander species, or at least the easiest to find. I usually find a bunch underneath rocks in road side ditches in Garrett County. Search especially after it rains, it brings them closer to the surface.
Without a doubt, my red-eared slider is the funniest pet I’ve had. His aptly-suited name is Tutle. Turtle without the r. He’ll let me know he’s hungry by banging his shell against the glass. When I feed him sliced apple bits, sometimes they’ll stuck to his long claws. Not knowing what to do he just swims in circles until I pick him up and remove it.
My bullhead catfish is the most entertaining by far. In the spring of 2018, I caught him accidentally in a net when he was no longer than two quarters. I threw him in the bait bucket mistakingly, and when I put the excess bait in the stock tank we have at home, I realized I kept him. This inspired me to create a fish tank that replicated Deep Creek Lake, where I had caught him. I set it up with a mud-rock bottom and plenty of aquatic grasses, adding the catfish, a small largemouth bass, a small smallmouth bass, some tiny bluegill and baitfish, and a tiny crappie into the large tank. For weeks I didn’t see him, as he kept to the rocks until very late at night. Eventually the bass and other fish outgrew the tank, so I let them go and prepared to take the tank apart when BOOM. A 4-inch catfish darted out and smacked into my hand. So I kept the tank. I added back in some small baitfish for company, and he ate them all eventually, even though they were roughly his size.
Today, less than a year later, he’s about 8-inches. He’ll attack my finger if I dip it in there, so he’s the only fish. His name is Vicious. Brown and yellow bullheads are the primary bullhead species in Maryland. I’ve caught plenty in Little Seneca Lake, Hunting Creek Lake, and the Anacostia River. Yet Vicious is actually a rarer black bullhead, found uncommonly in the far west portions of the state.
Vicious has taught me a lot about catfish behavior. They are pretty much only active at night. They will literally attack anything. They will occasionally eat topwater. They always look to squeeze themselves into the tightest spaces possible, leading to many broken off fishing lines.
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