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Well if the asian crabs weren't bad enough -now we have snakeheads-voracious fish that can traverse land to find water and they eat everything in their path
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Snakeheads in the grass
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AS USUAL, the scariest creature in water and woodland is man, and people coming to a pond in Crofton, Md., to gawk at the ''monster'' - a.k.a. ''Frankenfish,'' ''freaky fish,'' and ''X-Files fish'' - should take a look in the mirror for some real thrills.
It was man who bought the pair of exotic northern snakeheads from an Asian seafood dealer in New York two years ago and then tossed them in the pond behind a strip mall near Maryland's Route 3 after the voracious eaters, gulping down a dozen goldfish a day, outgrew their home aquarium.
Now they're gulping down bluegills, sunfish, pickerel, minnows, small-mouth bass, and other native species with no defenses against the sharp-toothed, top-of-the-food-chain predator that can grow to 3 feet and may have multiplied by the thousands.
Their fertility, size, and appetite pose no problem in their home waters of China's Yangtze River, where they have natural enemies. But in Maryland they're Godzilla, threatening not only a pond but the Little Patuxent River just 75 yards away.
Officials of the Maryland Department of Natural Resources have sandbagged the land between pond and river to prevent a heavy rain from carrying the snakehead to the wider world. The fish can also maneuver on land by extending its side fins and wriggling along the ground - something that has enhanced its creature feature star status - and it can survive for three days out of water, which has made it an ideal shippable seafood delicacy.
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Snakeheads in the grass
-----------------------
AS USUAL, the scariest creature in water and woodland is man, and people coming to a pond in Crofton, Md., to gawk at the ''monster'' - a.k.a. ''Frankenfish,'' ''freaky fish,'' and ''X-Files fish'' - should take a look in the mirror for some real thrills.
It was man who bought the pair of exotic northern snakeheads from an Asian seafood dealer in New York two years ago and then tossed them in the pond behind a strip mall near Maryland's Route 3 after the voracious eaters, gulping down a dozen goldfish a day, outgrew their home aquarium.
Now they're gulping down bluegills, sunfish, pickerel, minnows, small-mouth bass, and other native species with no defenses against the sharp-toothed, top-of-the-food-chain predator that can grow to 3 feet and may have multiplied by the thousands.
Their fertility, size, and appetite pose no problem in their home waters of China's Yangtze River, where they have natural enemies. But in Maryland they're Godzilla, threatening not only a pond but the Little Patuxent River just 75 yards away.
Officials of the Maryland Department of Natural Resources have sandbagged the land between pond and river to prevent a heavy rain from carrying the snakehead to the wider world. The fish can also maneuver on land by extending its side fins and wriggling along the ground - something that has enhanced its creature feature star status - and it can survive for three days out of water, which has made it an ideal shippable seafood delicacy.
