Thursday, September 17, 2009

A Piranha? In Wisconsin?

Quick, everyone out of the lake. A fisherman on Lake Winnebago caught a carnivorous tropical fish that was (mis)identified as a piranha. One of the commenters claims it is actually a pacu, which is a similar (but larger) species. I don't know if johnsam is an icthyologist or just a bullshitter, though, so take it with a grain of salt.

Presumably, some jackass dumped the fish into Lake Winnebago, since the DNR says they can't survive our winters (so there couldn't be a breeding population in the lake).

Still, it makes one reluctant to swim in Wisconsin's lakes. Another commenter claims that piranhas don't really attack people, but that's what folks used to say about otters.

3 comments:

Beer, Bicycles and the VRWC said...

Meh...similar situation many years ago with a couple yahoos dumping a shark carcass in Lake Michigan.

Ya wonder what people are thinking?

Dan said...

Many years ago, a real pirahana was found in the Wisconsin River, by the dam in Baraboo, I believe. Supposedly it was the largest pirahana ever caught.

T.j. Lautenbach said...

I heard a few yrs ago the largest piranha was caught in the waters by the nucular plant in kewaunee county, the water dnt freeze and is very warm yr round, no joke