Re: NANFA-- NYTimes - now snakehead...yet again!

Nick Zarlinga (njz_at_clevelandmetroparks.com)
Mon, 26 Aug 2002 22:52:48 -0400

> steered them more toward why they are monsters concerning diversity
instead of
> 'they have nasty teeth that go like this!' and their lack of potential
> predators which would enable them to have population explosions.

On our Southern Ohio seining trip, new NANFA member Eric Massengill relayed
his experience with a snakehead and a bowfin that he had in the same tank.
Any guesses as to what happened? Well, apparently, they were buddy, buddy
for a couple of weeks, then the bowfin grew tired of his counterpart and
attacked him by biting the snakehead in the head and violently shaking him,
thereby beating the hell out of it and killing it. They were about the same
size and he had them in a 125 if I remember correctly. How's that for a
story for the bar? Hooray for the good guy!

Nick Zarlinga

"If we ignore nature.....maybe it'll go away."
----- Original Message -----
From: "Crail, Todd" <tcrail_at_northshores.com>
To: <nanfa_at_aquaria.net>
Sent: Monday, August 26, 2002 1:50 PM
Subject: RE: NANFA-- NYTimes - Huge, Boat-Hurdling Carp Is No Mississippi
Fish Story

> Thanks for that article Jan. It was very interesting reading. Are you
> familiar with the electric fence they have on what I'd imagine was the
Chicago
> River?
>
> On another exotics note...
>
> It was interesting over the weekend, as the family my sister married into
are
> all from Florida. At the reception it was pretty much noted that I was
"that
> fish guy" and so many people had questions about the snakeheads. It
provided
> a way to talk to many different people about invasive exotics, and also
> downplay the monster image the snakehead has received from the media. I
> steered them more toward why they are monsters concerning diversity
instead of
> 'they have nasty teeth that go like this!' and their lack of potential
> predators which would enable them to have population explosions.
>
> Of course in the middle of my de-demonification triste to a rather large
group
> of folks interested in the topic, the mother of the groom (from Ft.
> Lauderdale) jumps in and says:
>
> "Snakeheads!? What they say is the truth! I pulled into work two weeks
ago
> and there was one kinda flipping across the parking lot! I guess it came
from
> the reflecting pond!"
>
> <sigh>
>
> "Did you back over it?" wasn't received all that well heh. However I was
> able to play it off like "I was just joking <sorta>!!!" and then we
discussed
> a little more about Florida's blight of exotic critters across the board
and
> why the snakeheads in Maryland were of such great concern when there were
> already species established in the south.
>
> What a topic for a wedding heh.
>
> Todd

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/ reflect the beliefs or goals of the North American Native Fishes
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/ nanfa_at_aquaria.net. To subscribe, unsubscribe, or get help, send the word
/ subscribe, unsubscribe, or help in the body (not subject) of an email to
/ nanfa-request_at_aquaria.net. For a digest version, send the command to
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/ For more information about NANFA, visit our web page, http://www.nanfa.org