Aufsess Castle and Giant Blind Trout

I enjoyed reading I, Claudius and Claudius, the God by Robert Graves so much, I decided to read Graves’s memoirs. He fought for the British during all 4 years of World War I, and the experience provides most of the fodder for his memoirs, but he also discusses his childhood. During summers he would visit his German grandfather and uncles. One of his uncles lived in Aufsess Castle, and I discovered a fascinating tidbit of natural history from these memoirs. There was a water-filled cavern in the cellar beneath the castle. Apparently, at some point in the past, the nearby Aufsess River overflowed and flooded into the cavern in the cellar. A population of brown trout (Salmo trutta) washed into the cavern during the flood. Plenty of food for the fish also washed into the cave. Here, safe from predators and with plenty of food, they grew to a large size. There was no light, and the constant exposure to darkness made them blind. When the castle occupants wanted trout for supper, they went…