I just saw the Piranha episode of MQ. Wow…talk about scrapping the barrel for topics.
Fish, at one time, were a great hobby of mine. At one point in my life, I had seven tanks going, all with very unusual and exotic fish. This does not make me an expert on piranha. But…I'm probably one of the few people in the US who have had both Redbelly Piranha and a true Black Piranha as pets. So I do know a little bit on the subject…something that I'd like to share.
The premise of the show was to determine if a school of Piranha were in the Lake of the Ozzarks in Missouri and could they survive. I share the same opinion as the biologist who has been working the lake since 1991….and that opinion is "Um…no."
Let's start with their strongest point. They went to a water source and determined that the low temperature was only 57 degrees. I question that finding, yet…ok. Not exactly sure how the piranha, who are not indigenous to the region, would know where this spot was and would they be able to find it year after year? Um…no.
Now let's discuss the "common sense" approach to the problem posed by MQ's resident idiot marine explorer. *In my best idiotic voice*…"It's a BIG lake. If someone dumps in a pet…how would people keep fishin' them up? Just doesn't make sense."
Hmmm…it would if you knew anything about Redbelly Piranhas (Serrasalmus nattereri). They are NOT some crazy super-dangerous monsters. Actually, they are quite timid fish. Fish that will not confront their prey but instead will ambush it in a cowardly fashion. After feeding them, I routinely put my arm into to tank to move around plants or for just routine maintenance. They never came near me. Not much of a monster. Oh…back to the idiot's theory…
Someone throwing a pet fish into the lake isn't going to take some back way access into the lake. They will throw it into a bucket of water and dump it near an easily accessible pier. Since Redbelly Piranhas are shallow water fish and timid fish at that…it probably isn't going to stray too far. So when a little girl fishes off a dock and pulls one up, which is what they were droning on about…well, it's not exactly proof of a breeding population, is it?
Also in the show, the went to South America to show how mean piranha are. For examples of this, they used the Black Piranha (Serrasalmus rhombeus). Comparing a Redbelly Piranha to a Black Piranha is like comparing a fat, lazy house cat to a Saber Tooth Tiger who's DNA experiment went terribly wrong and it's now 30 feet long, can breath fire, and turn invisible.
I cannot stress how much I do NOT recommend that someone takes on a Black Piranha as a pet, even if you are very experienced with fish. Just to clean the tank, I would have to box her in with plexiglass…if not, she'd jump out and try to snack on me. Without question, it was the most dangerous fish that I have ever owned.
Anyway, I felt that it was a classic…and excuse the pun…a "bait and switch" move on MQ's part. Show how dangerous the Black Piranha is and relate that to the Redbelly Piranha and hope nobody catches on. Whatever…
Overall…just weak sauce all over the place. Your monster is something that people in the northern half of the country can go and buy as pets. Yet…I do give them a couple of Revenant Points. Why? Because at least these "monsters" are real…
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