Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[DJ]

quote:
The giant snakehead is a carnivorous fish that feasts on pretty much anything in its path, and has caused all manner of destruction in places where it has been introduced. With the recent discovery of the fish in Britain, officials are scrambling to find a possible solution to this dreaded environmental issue.

Maybe you think it’s overstating the problem a bit. After all it’s just a fish, right? Wrong. This is not your everyday fish. For one thing, the giant snakehead can kill you. Female snakeheads have been known to attack and sometimes actually kill human beings who get too close to juvenile fish.

The giant snakehead will eat absolutely everything in a body of water then crawl over land to the next pond or lake. If there’s an infestation near any other bodies of water, those other areas are almost sure to be infested soon because the snakehead can survive four days out of water while it looks for a new home.

The fish is the pinnacle in dangerous and effective invasive species. Officials in the U.S. had to fight an invasion of the fish with the equivalent of a nuclear bomb. Snipers were placed around invaded bodies of water with shoot on sight orders. Whole lakes were poisoned, wiping out hundreds of other fish in the process, to stop the snakefish from spreading. Even these measures weren’t 100% effective.

So you can imagine the fear when British wildlife officials heard that one of the toothy monsters was hooked by a fisherman in Lincolnshire. According to the Sun newspaper, an environment agency rep said: “The reaction was, ‘Oh s***’.” You know you’re dealing with a serious environmental problem when people from environmental agencies start cursing in newspapers. (It’s probably worth pointing out, however, that the Sun is not exactly known as a hotbed of serious environmental journalism. They’re far more famous for having a daily picture of boobs on their third page.)

Nobody is quite sure how the fish got there. The species is native to South-east Asia, where it is kept in fish ponds or reservoirs as a game fish. They’re apparently quite fun to catch, and they’re also considered quite tasty in China. The species, however, is banned in Britain. It is assumed the fish was a pet that was released in the wild, as that is how the species was introduced in America.

http://www.environmentalgraffiti.com/ecology/the-worlds-most-evil-fish-invades-britain/810
This seriously needs to be officially added to DF.

[Keilden]

Snipers at water or the fish?

[umiman]

Eh, we have those guys in Malaysia. my dad used to keep them as pets. You can buy them in fish shops too. In Malay, the name is "Ikan Haruan". I don't know what Haruan means (I think some variation of "hunting"). You can find them everywhere, even in super, ultra polluted drains.

And these guys are exaggerating. They don't crawl, they flop about till they find a new body of water. So, more often than not, you're going to find them dead on the side of the road.

All it means is that your european and western freshwater fish are pansies and survival of the fittest dictates that they deserve to be exterminated.

edit: you know what you guys should do? Introduce our snapping turtles and softshelled terrapins. They're the ones who eat this fish. But then you're going to have a snapping turtle and softshelled terrapin problem

[ February 24, 2008: Message edited by: umiman ]

[Kagus]

It is....  The god of carp.   The lungfish prophesied its coming, but we took no heed of them.  Their journeys into the hearts of our fortress were met with deaf ears, and we now have to pay the price.

We are doomed.

[Jreengus]

quote: (It’s probably worth pointing out, however, that the Sun is not exactly known as a hotbed of serious environmental journalism. They’re far more famous for having a daily picture of boobs on their third page.)

Thats not true, im sure it has plenty of serious material, its not our fault if the one in the sixth form common room is always open at page 3 which has been heavily graffiteed

[penguinofhonor]

.

[Torak]

Oh fuck.

[Salmeuk]

I seem to recall one of those scifi channel movies being about this. . .

edit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snakehead_Terror

Some guy gets his arm bit off. . .

But in all seriousness, maybe toady should add them to the game. Like turtles and lungfish, they could climb out of the water and move about.

[ February 24, 2008: Message edited by: Salmeuk ]

[penguinofhonor]

.

[Pnx]

Sheesh it only takes 10 seconds to mod one in. Look at this one I put together just now.

code:

[CREATURE:FISH_SNAKEHEAD]
   [NAME:snakehead:snakeheads:snakehead]
   [TILE:'s'][COLOR:6:0:0]
   [LARGE_ROAMING]
   [MODVALUE:3]
   [GENPOWER:3]
   [POPULATION_NUMBER:15:30]
   [CLUSTER_NUMBER:5:10]
   [LARGE_PREDATOR][SAVAGE]
   [AMPHIBIOUS][SMALL_REMAINS][FISHITEM][IMMOBILE_LAND][UNDERSWIM][VERMIN_NOTRAP]
   [NOT_BUTCHERABLE][NATURAL]
   [PREFSTRING:gulping]
   [ALL_ACTIVE]
   [NO_DRINK]
   [BODY:BASIC_2PARTBODY:BASIC_HEAD:SIDE_FINS     :DORSAL_FIN:TAIL:2EYES:HEART:GUTS:ORGANS:NECK:SPINE:BRAIN:MOUTH]
   [ATTACK:MAIN:BYTYPE:MOUTH:bite:bites:2:8:GORE][ATTACKFLAG_CANLATCH]
   [ATTACK:SECOND:BYTOKEN:TAIL:slap:slaps:1:2:BLUDGEON][ATTACKFLAG_WITH]
   [MAXAGE:20:30]
   [CHILD:1][CHILDNAME:juvenile snakehead:juvenile snakeheads]
   [BIOME:RIVER_TROPICAL_FRESHWATER]
   [BIOME:RIVER_TROPICAL_BRACKISHWATER]
   [BIOME:RIVER_TROPICAL_SALTWATER]
   [BIOME:LAKE_TROPICAL_FRESHWATER]
   [BIOME:LAKE_TROPICAL_BRACKISHWATER]
   [BIOME:LAKE_TROPICAL_SALTWATER]
   [BIOME:POOL_TROPICAL_FRESHWATER]
   [BIOME:POOL_TROPICAL_BRACKISHWATER]
   [BIOME:POOL_TROPICAL_SALTWATER]
   [STANDARD_FLESH]
   [SIZE:3]
   [SWIMS_INNATE][SWIM_SPEED:1500]

Probably needs some stuff worked out, it will likely behave alot like the lungfish but be more vicious.

[ February 24, 2008: Message edited by: Pnx ]

[ February 24, 2008: Message edited by: Pnx ]

[Helmaroc]

If it's immobile_land it can't move on land.

[Pnx]

Well I did just throw it together literally in less than a minute but still the lungfish has that tag and also.

quote: They don't crawl, they flop about till they find a new body of water.

Oh and I just noticed the tile should be a s.

[penguinofhonor]

.

[frostedfire]

quote:Originally posted by umiman:
<STRONG>
edit: you know what you guys should do? Introduce our snapping turtles and softshelled terrapins. They're the ones who eat this fish.
[ February 24, 2008: Message edited by: umiman ]</STRONG>

We already tried that with the Cane Toad  :eek:

[McDoomhammer]

quote: Thats not true, im sure it has plenty of serious material

They certainly keep that quiet.