[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

NFC: Pirahna caught ...uhhh ohhhh




 
Piranha Fished Out Of Texas Lake 
Monday, June 21, 1999


DALLAS (Reuters) - A Texas teenager who went out fishing came back with
an unexpected catch, an 11-inch (27-cm) piranha, a local newspaper
reported Friday. 

Quinton Crocker reeled in the sharp-toothed carnivore, which is native to
South American rivers but not anywhere in North America, in Stillhouse
Hollow lake, a large central Texas reservoir near the town of Killeen. 

``I've lived here all my life and never seen one of these,'' the
15-year-old told the Killeen Daily Herald. ``It was different catching
one. I didn't really know what to expect.'' 

Officials said the fish was most likely released into the wild after
getting too big for some owner's aquarium. 

They said there could be other piranhas from the same source and they
could even spawn, but the next cold winter would kill them off. 

``Are these dangerous for bathers and swimmers? No,'' Norman Williams, a
zoologist and chairman of the Department of Sciences at Central Texas
College, told the newspaper. 

``The stories of piranha attacks are grossly exaggerated by Hollywood,''
said Williams, who identified Crocker's catch. 
 

Robert Rice
Help Preserve our Aquatic Heritage join the Native Fish Conservancy
online
 at our website  www.nativefish.org

Follow-Ups: