Local resident Garry Norman got a big surprise Saturday when fishing in the catch and release Bingham Lake in Parker.
Normally this lake has a few tadpoles, some small bass or trout but certainly not a flesh-eating South American species of Piranha.
It’s likely that someone bought the Pacu from a pet store and when it started outgrowing their fish tank and eating the other fish they decided to let it go in the pond.
“It was going to eat too much vegetation and kill everything else in the lake,” said Norman when Fox 31’s Mark Meredith interviewed him.
This is certainly true. Wikipedia says this species of Piranha grows much larger as big as 3 feet long and weighing 55 pounds. That would have been a big surprise for the happy labs that jump in to fetch a stick or two.
Garry Norman has him in isolation from the rest of the tropical fish he keeps at his home.
Source: Fox31 Denver
