Giant pike attacks swimmers

[Owlscrying 0]

August 10

Austria - A lake in Austria has been closed to swimmers because a giant pike nicknamed 'jaws' has been putting the bite on bathers.

Local anglers have posted a reward to catch him but so far the wily fish has remained off the hook.

In the latest incident a 45-year-old woman who was paddling in the shallows found the fish clamped to her leg.

Margot Withers, 45, said: "It chased me all the way to the bank biting my leg. I had to have stitches in the hospital. It was terrible."

Local authorities in Upper Austria have now told people to stay out of the water until anglers can catch it.

There have been a lot of people bitten. It's the warm weather that has made the fish aggressive, when it gets cooler he will probably calm down if he hasn't been caught.

go

[swtp 1]

OUCH!!!

[Lotus Flower 7]

^ That is what I think of the thought of that!

[NightWyvern 0]

global warming,I know it has made some animals act odd,it makes cats go into heat more often,so whos saying it cant make animals agressive

[kenshinx 3]

a giant pike nicknamed 'jaws'

its just act like its nickname

[camlax 2]

global warming,I know it has made some animals act odd,it makes cats go into heat more often,so whos saying it cant make animals agressive

That has nothing to do with global warming, fish are more active in the summer than in the winter, because in warmer water temperature their metabolism can sustain a more active lifestyle. Its summer now in Austria, being a country in the Northern Hemisphere. It always warms up enough in summer for fish to become more active.

Pike are apex predators and hunt much like large sharks, they will take a stab at a fish then simply wait for it to bleed out. Because of this aggressive style of hunting they often attack prey much larger than themselves. Pretty much eating the larger prey item alive, till the pike has had its fill. Once on a fishing trip I watched a small 2-3 pound Northern Pike kill a 4-5 pound large mouth. It was amazing.

As per the story...

It chased me all the way to the bank biting my leg.

Sounds like a typical pike hunting style to me, it just happens to be a pike large enough to attempt to attack a swimmer. Which actually is not all that surprising either. Pike get very large too,

Pike like that would have no problem attacking a little old lady swimming quietly by herself.

Edited August 11, 2007 by camlax

[nativechick1989 264]

Good grief.....thats gotta be scary, having a pike munching on you

[Smeagol1 4]

Nice spear should do the trick.

[JAKERZ666 4]

global warming,I know it has made some animals act odd,it makes cats go into heat more often,so whos saying it cant make animals agressive

My friend's are telling me global warming is a scam ?

[Piney 71,400]

August 10

Austria - A lake in Austria has been closed to swimmers because a giant pike nicknamed 'jaws' has been putting the bite on bathers.

Local anglers have posted a reward to catch him but so far the wily fish has remained off the hook.

Local authorities in Upper Austria have now told people to stay out of the water until anglers can catch it.

It has more right to be in the lake then the swimmers. It's about time nature started biting back

Lapiche

[zukie&jim 1]

a nice place to go fishing i bet--