Only the storms could claim Max

Max the goldfishThe amazing reign of Max the goldfish is over. Max, a footlong behemoth of a fish who was about to turn 22 years old, died as a result of the four-day power outage that afflicted his Mount Prospect home last week.

With the power out that long, oxygen could not be pumped into his tank, said his owner, Steve Bennett.

Bennett, 31, and now living in Palatine, won Max in the fall of 1985 at a fun fair at St. Raymond de Penafort School in Mount Prospect. Bennett was 10 years old at the time.

Most fun-fair goldfish die within days, if not hours, of arriving in their new homes. Max, though, just kept on swimming -- and growing. Max was an inch or two long in 1985. He died measuring at least a foot long from nose to tail.

"He was an absolute monster," Bennett said. "I sometimes wondered if he would ever die. I wasn't exactly a zoologist when it came to caring for him."

Bennett hopes to preserve Max's body as well. Right now, the fish sits frozen in his parents' freezer while he searches for a taxidermist willing to take on the tricky task of stuffing a goldfish.

Link & Image: DailyHerald

Comments

Anonymous said…
Why don't you try freeze drying instead of stuffing it. Not sure how well it works on fish though.