Through the glass

Hello, amazing people at Read.cash. How is your first week of the month going?

I'm a little dull today; I've been up late for two days doing paperwork for my son's college applications. I finished most of the work last night, and today, I had been wandering from tab to tab on my laptop for a couple of hours, getting a little lost in my thoughts. But then I read @Eylz2021's latest article and said to myself it's time to stop thinking without acting, and I'd better get to write a post.

The last couple of days, much of my time has been spent filling out tedious forms, but I have had the company of Cora, who, when she is not sleeping, lies next to me while I work. Of course, as long as she doesn't run out to the window trying to chase the birds that come to the plants on the balcony. I don't know how she hears them because all the windows are closed. It is as if she senses them, and no matter how far away she is, whenever some birds are there, she comes out, and her hunting instinct kicks in, and she stands there for a while looking through the glass.

Nature is so amazing and speaking of which, I am going to tell you about some fascinating creatures, probably some of you have never even heard of them, the axolotls.

A few days ago, we had to go to the pet store to buy some sand for Cora, and I was amazed because the store had a few fish tanks with axolotls. I had never seen them before in my life, although I knew about them from illustrations and pictures. Of course, I could not tear myself away from there before staring some time at the axolotls through the glass of the tanks.

The axolotls are amphibians native to Mexico. Their only natural habitat is the lake and lake canals of Xochimilco, near Mexico City. I knew about them because they are Mexican and Aztec culture icons. The axolotl is a creature present in Aztec mythology. A legend says that the axolotl is the reincarnation of the Aztec god Xolotl, represented as a dog-headed man who guided the souls of the dead; he was the god of fire and lightning, and the legend said he disguised himself as a salamander to avoid being sacrificed.

But axolotls aren't only important as mythical creatures. They are invaluable to science because of their natural ability to regenerate lost limbs and injured tissues and organs. This makes their study of great importance in the field of medicine.

In addition, unlike other salamanders that undergo metamorphosis, axolotls maintain a juvenile appearance throughout their lives and retain their dorsal fin. Although they have gills, adults can also breathe through their skin and live up to 15 years.

The axolotls are usually black or mottled brown, and albino and white ones are also common among those grown in captivity. They are predatory in the wild, feeding on mollusks and smaller fish.

The guy at the pet store told us that if you want to have more than one, they should be about the same size, so they don't cannibalize each other.

We have an empty fish tank at home because the last fish died last year during quarantine, and we didn't replace them. Of course, my husband came out with the idea of taking an axolotl home from the pet store. But I talked him out of it, and I think the argument that Cora is home and it wasn't a good idea to have anything in the tank at this time worked.

I find axolotls fascinating, but I don't want one in my house for some reason.

Maybe because they bring to mind a story by the Argentine writer Julio Cortázar called Axolotl. Perhaps I don't want to end up like the character in the story, spending hours staring at an axolotl and becoming obsessed with them. And as in Cortázar's story, ending exchanging my place with one axolotl.

If you want to read the story Axolotl by Cortázar, go here. (the story is in Spanish).

Have you ever seen an axolotl? Would you like to have one?

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All images and writing are my own unless otherwise stated.

Some of the images and writings were previously posted by me in Hive.

© CoquiCoin  

You can find me also at Noise.Cash ⊛ Hive ⊛ Torum ⊛ Twitter

Until next time! ;)

January 6, 2022