I write books. My latest is a YA science fiction novel called Homeland (it's the sequel to Little Brother). More books: Rapture of the Nerds (a novel, with Charlie Stross); With a Little Help (short stories); and The Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow (novella and nonfic). I speak all over the place and I tweet and tumble, too.

  • http://twitter.com/Neowolf2 Neowolf

    “Beatches”?

    • http://www.facebook.com/matthew.urso Matthew Urso

      life’s a beatch

      • Over the River

        And then you die.

  • http://www.facebook.com/matthew.urso Matthew Urso

    they don’t seem very good at it.   looks like all the pigeons get away

    • mcindex

      Actually, in the video above, they catch a pigeon 50% of the time

      • http://BrianEaston.net/ Brian Easton

        As far as I could tell they maybe catch one out of four attempts in the video. And that’s only because the first clip cuts away so quickly.

        • James Wood

           From the linked abstract, “Among a total of 45 beaching behaviors observed and filmed, 28% were successful in bird capture.” So your 1 in 4 was pretty close!

    • http://horseisahorse.myopenid.com/ HorseIsAHorse

      Yeah, I was disappointed. I was hoping for some real pigeon mayhem.

    • Lobster

       ..They’re -catfish-.

  • vonbobo

    pfffft! pigeon problems

    • vrplumber

      pigeon got 99 problems anna fish is one.

  • http://bubcap.com Rob

    Strange timing for me, because I just discovered the many videos of pelican eating pigeons (and seagulls)… Seems pigeons never know who is going to eat them.

  • Paul Renault

    This is unsurprising behaviour as catfish have been known to travel over land during times of low water levels in waterways.

  • feetleet

    Catatafish of the Stomach’s Cove.

  • http://www.zachstronaut.com/ zachstronaut

    Pretty weird, but far less disturbing than when I learned that cattle and deer will eat baby birds.

    • Supernumerary

      Did you read the same article on that as I did? The one where the writer included long, lovingly detailed descriptions of cattle which would duck their heads as their lips peeled back, and pluck up the cheeping little chicks at their feet before munching away? That stuff sticks with you.

  • dr

    As long as these catfish don’t see it and get any ideas:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCyI667PF_E 

  • len_c
  • Edward

    Admittedly a long way from catfish and pigeons, but some years ago I was surprised to see a chipmunk thoughtfully chewing on a mouse. Always thought they were vegetarians. Turns out there are several UTube videos of this phenomenon, and it’s a quite well-known behavior.

    Another fish that can spend substantial amounts of time on land are eels. Does anyone know if they will opportunistically attack small animals?

    Oddest animal behavior I have ever seen is a large group of mice in organized play (or perhaps a mating behavior)? Between a half-dozen and dozen running round and round a trodden-down track they had created, with a fair amount of vocalization and every appearance of glee and gusto. Seen in Windsor Great Park in the UK, in the company of others. I have searched for other accounts of the odd behavior, and have yet to find any. At least they weren’t engaged in cannibalism! 

    • Mister44

       I’ve seen video of a deer eating a bird and another of one eating steak. Herbivores evidently don’t mind a little meet if they can get some. There are crazy videos of this all over you tube.

  • Fodilious Memnon

    What a beatch for the pigeon…

  • orwell

    now if only we could get them to eat the idiot rednecks who insist upon shoving their hands into the catfish mouths…

  • Ryan Lenethen

    Evolution!

    • http://www.facebook.com/people/Maj-Variola/100003091129531 Maj Variola

      And I always thought it was the stray baseball that convinced the fishes to try land..

  • vonbobo

    either this is a savant, or a bot. Savbot?