Palm Beach Pond Has a Piranha Problem

The small fish with a big bite may be spreading in South Florida

By TODD WRIGHT

Updated 3:36 PM EDT, Tue, Nov 17, 2009

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When you fish the waters of South Florida, you're bound to catch anything. But what a young angler hooked in West Palm Beach has wildlife officials worried for your fingers and toes.

Officials confirmed a red-bellied piranha infestation might be spreading in South Florida after two sightings in the past month, reports the Palm Beach Post. The little critters with a mouth full of razor-sharp teeth were probably someone's pet released into the wild, officials said.

The fish are usually found in fresh waters along the Amazon River, but these two were found far away from their home terrorizing minnows in the pond. One of the fish was a foot long and had clearly been beefing up on the local cuisine.

In response, wildlife officials plan to poison the four-acre pond the piranhas were found in, essentially killing every fish in the water to get rid of the menacing species.

The unbelievable catch by the boy, Jake Duchene, will probably be his last in the pond near his house.

"I was sitting in my chair and he came running in. He said he saw a bunch of minnows getting torn up. He cast his line in there and, boom, kind of snagged it in the top of the head," Darrin Duchene, Jake's dad, told the Palm Beach Post. "He ran over and said, 'Dad! Dad! I caught a piranha!'"

Piranhas usually hunt in large schools and can take down just about anything that takes a dip in the water. There are many South American tales of piranha attacking and devouring humans who mistakenly get caught during a feeding frenzy.

Beyond the danger to humans, piranhas can spread in an area quickly. Females can lay as many as 600 eggs, which is why officials are taking the drastic step of exterminating every living fish to neutralize the threat.

So unless you want to be fish food or have a cameo in a horror flick, stay out of the water.