Associated Press:  Federal officials say Asian carp may have breached an electronic barrier designed to prevent the giant invaders from upsetting the ecosystem in the Great Lakes and jeopardizing a $7 billion sport fishery

Welcome to a real life horror movie, and the star is called the Asian or Silver Carp. The fact that it’s a carp is bad enough, but this carp in particular, is absolutely horrific! It has taken over much of the lower-mid Mississippi and Illinois rivers, and this movie is coming to a theater near you.

This is the famous flying fish of the river, and fly they do. Whenever a boat passes near them, they take off like aircraft, and launch themselves into the air. And while this may sound funny on the surface, these fish can weigh 20 and 30 and 40 pounds, so if they fly through the air and hit someone, they are going to do damage.

These carp are an invasive species that were imported from China to eat the algae in ponds. Somehow, someway, they got into some of our main rivers, and they began to reproduce. Because they are from China, they have no natural enemies, so they bred like flies, and have literally taken over rivers and tributaries.   Read more here

Maj. Gen. John Peabody of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says scientists recently collected 32 DNA samples of Asian carp between the barrier and Lake Michigan in waterways south of Chicago, although the fish have yet to be spotted in the area.  Read full story here

32 DNA samples for Asian carp found past barrier

Rattlesnakes Joined at Neck to go Separate Ways

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The Pink Toed Tarantula

The Pink Toed Tarantula also known as Pink-toed Tree Spider.

They are found in Guyana, French Guiana, Suriname, Venezuela, Brazil, Trinidad, Martinique, and throughout the Amazon Basin.Guyana also exports pink toed spiders.

Read more here

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Pigs on the Loose in Stokesdale, NC…OINK OINK!

Thursday, September 24th, 2009

Posted by:  BBParks

Source:  Associated Press