Report From Queens

snakehead
Originally uploaded by dangunderman.

A routine fish sampling in Meadows Lake in Flushing reveals the unexpected and the horrifying. There's Northern Snakehead in that there pond! These torpedo-shaped, many-toothed predators can walk on their fins and briefly breathe air, although contrary to myth, they are unable to survive for three days without water and do not - yet - attack Sunnysiders in particular or humans in general. Still, as our fair borough considers how to deal with our fear of this non-native/invasive species with a voracious appetite for, well, just about anything, local toughs opt for a well-practiced mob approach: "Screw the Snakehead. Eradicate!"