This saga began when a NewsChannel 5 viewer informed the station that piranhas were being caught by fishermen in Lake Lou Yaeger, which is located in the community of Litchfield.
(One fish was captured on June 7 and a second was reportedly hooked more recently.)
It seemed eerily like a landlocked version of "Jaws," but without the enormous shark and corny lines, such as, "I think we're going to need a bigger boat."
Lake-goers and officials were understandably concerned because piranhas are flesh-tearing predators that can reduce large animals — or people — to skeletons in minutes.
Additionally, reports of their presence surfaced just when a scorching heat wave was driving scores of people to the lake shore, hoping to cool off.
Thankfully, however, calmer heads appear to be prevailing. The fish captured on June 7 was inspected and turned out to be a pacu. Pacus, like piranhas, are native to the Amazon River basin in South America.
However, pacus' teeth are shaped more like human teeth than the pointy teeth of piranhas. Pacus, which can weigh up to 55 pounds, prey largely on nuts that fall from trees, snails and aquatic vegetation. They're considered harmless to humans.
Presumably, the fish that was captured in Lake Lou Yaeger had been someone's aquarium pet before being illegally dumped into the lake.
All of this aside, according to the accompanying news report, not everybody is satisfied that Lake Lou Yaeger is safe.
One visitor stated, "I'm freaked because we drove for an hour to get here. So now I'm not so sure I want to go in."
Another added, "I've had pet pacu before and I've seen them eat other fish, and I know when they're hungry … that they'll eat anything, so I'm kind of iffy about going out there because they could maybe bite me."
Lake superintendent Jim Caldwell, sounding a bit like the Amity Island mayor in Jaws, assured that everything's OK, adding that he has a small swim in the lake regularly.
It was about then that you half-expected the scary theme music to begin playing.
Close-up image of the captured pacu's human-like teeth courtesy of KSDK.com.
what next.
That fish looks like someone stuck a bad set of dentures in it’s mouth.
Jeremy Wade did an episode of River Monsters on the Pacu called “Ball Cutter”. It seems that Pacu have developed a taste for human flesh with several attacks on swimmers. Ironically, one attack the Pacu was still eating “nuts” that had fallen into the water. I think I would stick to the swimming pool.