Zoöp Observations: Rudd on terrace deck
Artist Frank Bruggeman, together with Peter Zwaal, observes life in the New Garden, where they record how plants, animals and people relate to each other in the outdoor space of Zoöp Nieuwe Instituut. This edition of his zoop observation series is quite exciting: a real murder mystery around the ponds. Of one of the thousand fish released, only the bones remain. Who is responsible for the death of this rudd, if it cannot be the suspected herons or cormorants?
26 March 2023
The presence of blue herons in and around the large pond of the Nieuwe Instituut makes it clear that there must be fish, I wrote in an earlier blog. This should not come as a surprise, because in November last year about 1000 rudd and perch were released in the pond, mainly to combat filamentous algae. But once released, those rudds and perches of course immediately disappeared.
In winter, many fish species live a secluded life. They seek out deeper places in ditches and ponds, where the water temperature is fairly constant and they need to use little energy. But now that spring has arrived, fish are becoming active again. Birds that like to eat fish know this. In addition to the blue heron, I also saw a cormorant spying for fish, sitting on the pond statue of Auke de Vries (March 13).
A few days later (March 19) Richard from the café saw a fish lying on the terrace deck of the Nieuwe Instituut. Judging by its injuries, the animal had clearly fallen prey to a heron, but by any luck did not end up in the bird's stomach. A heron usually swallows a fish headfirst, so it will slide down the throat smoothly. If a fish is not caught in the right position it is thrown up in the air and caught again. That is probably what went wrong here. The fish is a common rudd (Scardinius erythrophthalmus). The red pelvic, anal and caudal fins, the pale yellow eyes and the number of scales on the lateral stripe leave no room for misunderstanding. Richard put the rudd, which was still alive, back in the pond. After half a minute of gaining strength, it swam away.
“ How did this fish come to its end and who did it serve as food? ”
Today I also found a fish on the terrace deck, or rather its skeleton. This fish clearly couldn't have fallen prey to a heron or cormorant, as these birds swallow their prey whole and don't eat it off the bone. So here’s the question, then: how did this fish come to its end and who did it serve as food?
Artist Frank Bruggeman, in collaboration with researcher and author Peter Zwaal, describes what he sees happening in The New Garden since spring 2022, when the Nieuwe Instituut officially became a zoop. In small vignettes, he outlines the dynamics between plants, animals, walkers, staff and other human and other-than-human presences in the outdoor space around the institute. From the return of the moorhen to the unexpected introduction of the cherry tomato.
Read other observations