Interesting Find
I went jetskiing this afternoon, like I usually do on most summer weekends. Ive been to this lake probably close to a 1000 times. No exageration. But this trip, I happen to be lucky enough to be in the right place, at the right time and catch a glimpse of something I did not think exsisted or even could exist in this lake. A freshwater stingray! Jimmy and I were pulling our jetski's up onto the shore and preparing to go get our vehicles, to pull out and leave for the day. I was walking thru water about 8 inches deep when something caught my eye just in front of my feet. I took another look and saw what clearly appeared to be a small brown stingray swimming quickly from rock to rock along the bottom. I bent down to have a closer look. He was about 4 inches long, nose to the tip of his thin tail. He was dark brown with small light brown splotches on his back which really helped him blend into the bottom of the lake bed. When he swam, he glided along the bottem effortlessly and didnt really seem scared. Just botherd that I was moving in his direction. He came to a stop just in front of me so when I bent down to look at him closer, I reached into the water and used my index finger to gently stroke his back. He was smooth, almost like a salomanders skin. At first I was very surprised he sat so still for me. Then right as I thought that, zoom.... gone into the deep. My buddy Jimmy got to my location right as this happened. I told him what I saw and he was just as amazed as I was. I came home and searched the internet for anything on freshwater stingrays in local lakes. But found nothing. I know a few people that are familiar with the wildlife in the area. Im going to ask them if they've ever seen or heard of them. Very facinating... indeed!
