Puffer Fish and Puffer People

The Indian River in Florida is famous for more than just their oranges. If you fish there or stroll along its palm tree lined sandy banks, you might become acquainted with a peculiar variety of fish. It is called the puffer fish by those on the Space Coast in Brevard County. Other regions call it such names as the globefish, swellfish or bellows fish. It is found abundantly in the blue green tropical waters found around the east coast of Florida and out into the Caribbean Islands.

Puffer fish are a strange looking creature very unpopular with the fishermen. They constantly are getting on to their hooks. Their mouths are strange looking beak-like openings and when a fisherman attempts to remove a hook the puffer fish will suck in air and puff itself up like a helium filled toy balloon. Drop it on the ground and you will witness it bounce like a rubber ball.

In their native habitat the puffer can inflate themselves by drawing in water. This makes them look bigger than they really are, and more difficult to capture by bigger fish. They can swell in a hurry, which surprises the bigger fish, who than scurry away.

In life there are puffer people. They can rapidly swell up and scare other people off. They eventually become pest to those moving around them. Getting rid of them is a very difficult thing to do. They just cannot take a hint. Puffer people have strange appearances. They always seem to look victimized, yet some how very important and full of authority.

What to do with puffer fish? You cannot poke a hole in them and let out the air or water. They would burst and die. Keeping them around will clutter the air with ugliness. Trying to relate to them is foolishness. They are to busy puffing themselves up.

Over the years the people in the Indian River area have learned to cope with the situation quite nicely. What they do with their puffers, just might work with the puffers in other areas. First and foremost they avoid them at all cost. If they see one coming they hide. They never fish where they know for sure they will show up. If one gets on their hook they loan that rod to an enemy.

Some natives have even reeled them in and skinned them alive. Oh, what a mess! Others, hold them out of the water and watch them explode. Still others will let the little children use them to play soccer. They even make nice floats for the tank on your toilet. There have been a few reports where they have been sold as clown balloons at a small circus.

It does not matter which method you use to protect yourself from the puffers, it will not be a pleasant task. Puffers can fill themselves up with air. That is their only attribute. They add nothing to society about them. Yes, puffers are ugly strange creatures we can encounter in our lives. Who was your last puffer encounter with? Oh, my goodness, are you a puffer?