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Lee’s Catfi sh Farm is probably not to different from the usual operation. He has several ponds with different size catfi sh and he had a few ponds segregated according to the variety of catfi sh. The feeding process is all automated and the spring fed ponds hold a steady temperature year round. The processing sheds are weatherized for year round activity and they ship to a large market. The pond I want to describe, Lee calls his circus pond. Lee has one pond the size of an Olympic swimming pool with seven enormous blue catfi sh from the Mississippi River. Lee is training these catfi sh for a circus act. Blue Catfi sh grow substantially larger and are more intelligent then the normal run of catfi sh. Lee Shilling even believes they are smarter then dolphins or porpoises. I’ve never been able to learn just how big they grow. Some experts think they grow as long as there is ample food until they die. Lee has trained his Blue catfi sh to swim in patterns and do things like leap frog but in the water. They leap out of the water over hurdles even through hoops. That was a good trick as the seven came up out of the water one at a time each would grab the tail of the catfi sh in front while in the air and hold on until they had passed through the hoop and back into the water. Lee had them pair up three against three and play water polo with the seventh being the whistle blowing referee. They push large fl oating balls in relay type races. I do not remember how many tricks, I would guess about a dozen but Lee said they needed to develop another half dozen tricks to fi ll enough time for a full circus act performance. Lee did show us his closing showcase act. The Blue catfi sh respond to hand signals and underwater signals. In the show’s fi nale the blue catfi sh rise up on their tails with American fl ags in their mouths and scull backwards across the pool grunting My Old Kentucky Home, like they were trained dolphins. The trick is this, fi rst Lee signals the group to come to the side of the pool and line up in a prearranged pattern. Next he puts a small stick with an American fl ag in their mouths. He gives them the signal and they rise up together and grunt as they go backwards across the pool. Lee swears if you listen carefully they are lined up to grunt in different notes the song “My Old Kentucky Home.” Well to tell you the truth they were grunting but they all sounded the same to me.
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