Really big Plecostamus

[Bullfrog]

Remember we discussed putting a couple of Plecostamus in the pond to control algae? A fishing forum that I belong to posted this picture, the man was throwing a cast net in a bayou in Houston. Obviously people dispose of their fish there when they get tired of them...




It's as big as his shoe...




One of the replies was that Texas Parks and Wildlife states that you must kill this fish if you catch it because it is a non indigenous species and they don't want them multiplying. I haven't established the validity of that statement.

[Kat]

Yep, they can get huge in a pond environment & probably was released because it got too big for an aquarium. 

[aravenschild]

depending on the species, they can get up to 3 feet long

its a shame that people "dump" these animals into the wild...............

I'm not sure of Houstan, but Florida now has a breeding population of Burmese pythons, and several other non-native species,...........

And then theres a problem with Cane toads!!!!!!

will people ever learn?

[LeeAnne151]

I sure hope they will learn but I'm doubtful....

[Joyce]

That sure is a pretty pleco, I hope they didn't kill it. 

[bunny56lbc]

Thats a shame they dumped the  Plecostamus . It's a beautiful fish !

bonnie

[Bullfrog]

He photographed the fish and put it back. This is such a different forum, people here really care about nature and so do the fishermen there, but there is also a "hunting" topic and we have exchanged some pretty tough views on the hunting topic. One in particular was the coyote hunting thread. I can understand a rancher who looses calfs killing coyotes. I don't understand a man waking up and driving 180 miles to kill a coyote just to leave it lay or hang it on a barbed wire fence as a warning to the other coyotes. They claim they are helping the ranchers.

A very active thread is on it's second page now named, "Would you shoot Bigfoot?"

[LeeAnne151]

When they reduce the coyote populations the ones that are left just raise bigger litters of pups.

Since we killed off wolves, coyotes have spread far beyond their original territory.

Big guard dogs are helpful against them in sheep flocks, dogs that live out with the sheep but I don't know if they work with cattle.

The facts are that if you are raising livestock, you are going to have some losses. Just as a retail store is going to have some returns and some theft. Cost of doing business.

Killing every predator on the continent isn't the answer though that lesson hasn't been learned. Man has been trying to kill off all the predators but it hasn't worked. The government pays men to shoot and trap thousands of them annually to protect the 2% of US beef raised on the public range at taxpayer expense.....

[bunny56lbc]

There's no way I'd even tell anyone I saw Bigfoot.
1) because no one would ever believe me
2) if I did tell someone my DH would have me committed
3) I wouldn't want anyone running out & try to kill him/her/it
I mean after all Bigfoot is a legion

bonnie