As any angler will tell you, the list of things fish will eat is almost limitless. We use everything from pinkies to sardines in the course of a season, after all. But what are the craziest prey items devoured by fish? Here are some of the world’s most frenzied attacks by predatory fish species.
Catfish vs Pigeon
While most British cat fishing is carried out with pellets and boilies, there’s no denying the predatory prowess of the wels. There’s a good reason the smaller lakes they inhabit tend to be avoided by ducks and moorhens! Far from being just scavengers, they will attack almost anything that fits down that gaping mouth.
Perhaps the most dramatic examples of this are in France, Spain and other warmer European countries, where urban cats have been filmed grabbing pigeons from the waterside! Many other random things have been found in catfish, although sadly the account of a semi-digested Nazi turned out to be a shaggy dog – or should that be long-haired cat? – story.
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Trout vs Mouse
Did you think that trout were gentle fish for posh anglers, gracefully sipping down mayflies? Not a bit
of it! These are highly versatile predators – and the larger ones quickly get a taste for flesh.
Fish are themost common target, but various other delicacies are occasionally taken, including frogs and even mice. In fact, New Zealand anglers even tie flies to imitate them.
These tactics provide thrilling sport at certain times when rodent numbers peak – fish to over 10lb are reported. It’s not unheard of closer to home, either. A two-pounder from Devon’s River Barle was once found to contain a snaffled mouse. Think carefully before taking a swim, Mickey!
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Giant Trevally vs Tern
Venture on to the wider world’s great oceans and there are incidences of predation that get even wilder. It’s one thing to see a shark pick off a swimming gull, but how about catching seabirds right out of the air?
If such cases sound like pure fantasy, the BBC’s Blue Planet 2 series revealed the startling truth behind such reports. Creating a sensation viewed by tens of millions of viewers, the usually solitary “GT” are observed grouping up to feast on terns.
Footage of giant predators going airborne to pluck birds straight out of the sky has to be among the greatest wildlife spectacles ever filmed.
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Shark vs Seagull
The sheer variety of things ingested by sharks is the stuff of legend.
The selection of items found in their stomachs includes car licence plates, a Barbie Doll and even unopened cans of tuna (in fairness, tin openers are a real bitch to use when you don’t have hands).
As for predatory antics in UK waters, perhaps the craziest attacks anglers witness are on seagulls! Drawn by the “rubby dubby” of chopped fish that skippers use as an attractor, these birds inevitably come on the scrounge. A risky game, because on the odd occasion big sharks are quite partial to a “side order of wings” with their fish takeaway.
One or two enterprisingly deranged anglers have even tied giant “seagull flies” to tempt blue sharks in UK waters!
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Pike vs Mallard
When it comes to Britain’s freshwater fish, the pike is the culprit most often accused of crazy attacks on all and sundry. While most such stories are hogwash, however, their real life snacking habits are eye-opening enough.
Frogs and water voles are fair game, and they will also occasionally eat water birds. Usually this means chicks, but a large pike will sometimes pig out on an adult moorhen or mallard! Let’s not get too horror
B-movie about pike, though. Attacks on humans are ridiculously rare, while other food sources include
far more mundane things like frogspawn and even concentrations of tiny insect larvae.
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Piranha vs Cow
It’s not always the largest fish that are the most aggressive. Piranhas have been the subject of numerous wild tales. But can they really maim livestock? Former US President Franklin D Roosevelt reputedly watched a cow being stripped to the bone right before his eyes while visiting Brazil!
But while the story turns out to be true, it is far from normal or natural. In fact, the event was staged by locals who had corralled hundreds of piranhas into one area to create the spectacle.
Under usual circumstances, piranhas don’t simply attack anything that moves. It’s only at certain times, such as when food is short or they find a dead or injured animal, that they would bite humans or cattle. And they are more likely to take a bite and move on than strip prey to the bone. Even so, plenty of people in South America have received a nasty bite, or even lost a finger!
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