Swimming with stingrays and piranhas

 

Lomalinda’s people admitted their fear of stingrays, but they went swimming anyway. (If you missed last week’s post, click on stingrays’ stingers could slash a swimmer’s feet, leaving him writhing in pain while someone pulled out the venomous knife-like barb. Recovery could take months, always painful and slow.)

 

And pirañas (piranhas) lived in the lake, too. Yes, pirañas!

 

With powerful jaws and teeth like razors, pirañas have a reputation for tearing apart and eating a man in a couple of minutes, leaving only a skeleton—but Lomalinda’s pirañas didn’t bite unless they smelled blood, and thus the need for those with an open sore to stay out of the lake.

 

Swimmers admitted their fear that pirañas might chew on them, but that didn’t keep them out of the water.  

 

Lomalinda’s John Waller tells of a harrowing experience he had one day at sunrise while getting his daily exercise by swimming to the island and back.

 

“After swishing a stick in the shallows to be sure no stingrays lurked there, I waded in and started swimming as soon as it was deep enough. (I didn't want to be in contact with the bottom any more than necessary!)”

 

“ . . . about halfway back to the dock I felt something brush my leg.

 

“Now, at Lomalinda's lake you don't take that kind of thing lightly.

 

“ . . . I cranked up the speed a bit and even altered my course. Maybe, just maybe, whatever it was would keep going 'that way' while I continued 'this way'.

 

“But then, just a little further on, something again touched me!

 

“I was used to the minnows nibbling, but this was different.

 

“I thought I was far enough out to avoid the lairs of the caiman (alligators), and I had heard that the pirañas always attacked in mobs. So what could it be?

 

“Needless to say, I kicked and stroked harder and started evaluating my options.

 

“A third time was too much. Something must be after me! I knew I was a good-size meal, but I always thought the manly 'smell' would ward off any takers. Now I wasn't too sure.

 

“. . . I swam as fast as I could. It wasn't too far to the dock. Maybe I could outrun this predator. And so the race was on.

 

“I felt its nudge a couple more times but now I was near paydirt. The dock was just ahead and I wasn't going to wait for any invitations to get on it.

 

“As I quickly pulled myself up and cleared the water, I happened to glance down. There, hanging onto my leg, was the culprit! A partially attached bandage which had been moving back and forth in the water, had come loose. My race with destiny was over. The 'enemy' was none other than a little bit of cotton and adhesive playing games with me!”  (Thanks to I Was A Stranger for sharing John’s story.)

 Come on back next week. 

I have even more critters to tell you about.

Here's a photo of Matt with a piranha he caught in 

Lomalinda's lake: