My next door neighbor ask me if I would baby sit her tropical fish while she was out of town for a week. I have done a lot of baby sitting before;children, dogs, cats and yes even a bird but a fish never.I said yes, and the fun began. She brought the little fellow over and introduced him as "Pinkie". Her grandchildren name him because of his color.
Her instructions were: you don't have to change the water, it is good for a week. Give him just three pieces of fish food every morning. Don't give him more because it will just dirty up the water. Piece of cake I thought. The first morning I followed instructions and gave him three pieces of food. Then I thought i would look at him and just talk. He ignored me.
The next day I saw a video on the Internet showing an oriental man with four gold fish in a bowl. He had trained them to follow his hands like you would a wand. At the same time he move the left hand left and the right hand right. To my great surprise two fish swam to the right and two to the left in a synchronized swim. Aha! I am going to train Pinkie.
The next morning I tapped on the glass and started moving my right hand to the right around the bowl. Pinkie didn't move. I kept moving my hand in the same motion every day and talking to the fish. He did turn once and I thought he was turning his back to me. Well, I knew I would not have him trained by the time his owner came home but at least I tried. It was worth the effort. I felt I had a little buddy.
So when Ann returned home she came for Pinkie. For the last time I walked up to the fish bowl and tapped on the glass. To my surprise Pinkie rewarded me by swimming up to my finger as if to say "Good Morning"
To sceptics the picture is of Pinkie and the story is so true. With a little effort you can even communicate with a fish.
