# Snakehead in Lake Michigan



## Mr. Tipper (Aug 29, 2002)

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6255516/

I don't know if anyone else saw this but a snakehead was found in Burnham Harbor in Chicago last week. 

I had a snakehead in college over 10 years ago. At that time they were sold in pet stores as the new Piranah or Oscar. When I got rid of mine it was over 24" long. When they say voracious appetite they are not kidding. When it was around 10" long a girl came over to our house and stuck her finger in the tank. THe fish shot up and bit her finger and drew blood. When it was 18" inches long we would buy 40+ goldfish and dump them in the tank at once and watch the chaos. They'd all be gone in about a minute. When It got to be 24"+ it became too expensive to feed gold fish so I began buying cow hearts and then catching hand size bluegill. I put 5 bluegil in the tank and it took 2 down whole instantly and then grabbed a 3rd and ripped the head off. The last 2 lasted a few more days before their demise. 
The fish mutliple times escaped the tank and we had to search the room only to find it fuzzy with dirt and debris behind the couch. Puting bricks on top of the tank is all that would keep it in. 
I finally had to get rid of it when it broke out a side of a 55 gallon tank. I unloaded it on a nother college kid who had a bigger tank who thought it would be OK with his other "big fish" I tried to warn him but he insisted it woud be OK. I never followed up with him to see how long his other fish lasted. 
These fish are mean, always hungry, and tough as nails. I hope the burnham harbor fish was a fluke. Unfortunately the ones found in Maryland last year were breeding.


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## MSUICEMAN (Jan 9, 2002)

well, hopefully it didn't find a mate to procreate with..... just what we need.


steve


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## bigsid (Jan 13, 2003)

Yeah, hopefully some smarta$$ just decided to throw _one_ into the drink. I believe the ones in Maryland were due to flooding of a pond right?


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## Mags (Apr 10, 2002)

Does anyone know by what process they can be eradicated? If they get into the main Lake Michigan ecosystem, then what, besides being in deep doodoo?


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## kingfisher2 (Mar 22, 2001)

Sid, I believe I read a few years ago that flooding allowed these fish into the Mississippi River. I think it mentioned that these fish can survive out of water and basically slimmer from one body of water to another....

Marc


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## Bucket-Back (Feb 8, 2004)

I seen on a news program(can't remember which one)that a study was going to be done in Lake Michigan to see if any Snakeheads were in the system yet,if they are doing a study it sounds to me that it might be too late,will follow up with more details when my memory clears up.


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## Mr. Tipper (Aug 29, 2002)

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6254081/

The search of Burnham Harbor has not yielded anymore snakeheads. 

I believe the outbreak in Maryland a few years ago was thought to be caused by the release of a few fish from an Asian Market. They are a food fish in Asia

And yes, they can survive out of water for long periods. 
I shoudl clarify that the Northern Snakehead can survive in our systems. I had a red snakehead which lives in a warmer climate. It may even still be available to buy. 

http://www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/pfk/pages/show_article.php?article_id=38

Look at this search for snakehead on MSNBC - 
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/?querytext=Snakehead&id=3053419&action=fulltext


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