I write this blog entry in defense of our vilified animal brethren, the piranha. While I was in los llanos (the plains) I had the opportunity to learn that the threat posed to humans by the piranha has been highly exaggerated. Movies set in the Amazon showing ferocious schools of piranhas devouring cows and swimmers have propagated an unfortunate and unsavory reputation. Zoologists have found that piranhas travel in schools not to hunt, but for protection from their natural predators, primarily the river dolphin. That's right, while the general public buys the benevolent dolphin stereotype, Flipper is out preying on the significantly smaller and slower piranha. It is true that piranhas have highly specialized dentition designed for rapid puncturing and shearing, but wouldn't you want to have this defense mechanism if Flipper was cornering you?I lobby for the piranha to be reclassified under the same taxonomy as less maligned marine life such as the baby seal and guppy. Please consider my request to stop the slander of this cherubic fish.
By the way, we fished piranhas for dinner. They are delicious...and cherubic.
The piranha - our friend, our freshwater brethren.
Check out my professional piranha fishing stance.
3 comments:
dude, I'm sorry but I side with the dolphins with the feud with the piranhas. They are just way cuter and you can't play basketball with a piranha. - g-money
Whatever, G-Money, have you ever TRIED to play basketball with a piranha?
Right... you love piranhas the same way you love guppies and baby seals. But after you rant on saving the piranha, you go and eat him. I will buy in to the piranha myth after you finish eating your first baby seal (with a side of unicorn maybe?).
-- Patty O
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