Alligator gars

[Glen Miyashiro]

I knew that now that New Orleans is flooded, there are water moccasins and alligators swimming through the streets.

But I didn't know about the alligator gars.

This blog entry (http://neworleans.metblogs.com/archives/2005/09/dont_know_if_an.phtml) from Metroblogging New Orleans has links to some pretty wild photos:

Sure, the water was nasty and full of debris, but these were desperate times, with at least three feet of water – full of feeding alligator gars - pooled around the station and nearby homes virtually inundated.
("Pumping Station Operators Ride Out the Storm," 9/20/05)

Okay, so the fact that these pumps stayed up and running for most of the time is remarkable. So's the fact that the engineers were able to keep them operational even without a reliable cooling mechanism.

What's of interest to me, however, is those alligator gars. I mean, have you seen (http://www.earthwave.org/gar.htm) those (http://www.mosportsmen.com/fishing/alligatorgar.htm) freakin' (http://www.lafishmag.com/garfish.html) things (http://www.grouchyoldcripple.com/archives/alligator%20gar.html)? That's some shit, yo.Yipes. :eek:

[kimo55]

...wonder how Terry feels about those animals....

[helen]

I didn't know this type of fish existed until now. From the pictures it seems something out of sci-fi, head of gator, body of a fish. And while it can breathe air, at least it has no legs, as in if it wanted to chase you on land, it can't.

Found this website that has gars (http://www.floridafisheries.com/Fishes/gar.html) in general. Interesting some gars could survive the Ala Wai Canal.

[pzarquon]

I didn't even know what a 'gar' was, frankly. I was thinking, "Does he mean 'alligator jars'? Wait... what's an 'alligator jar (http://www.talkingpresents.com/productpages/cookiejar_alligator.html)'?"

Yipe. Looks like they were built out of the last remaining parts left in an old horror movie creature shop. Those'll definitely clog your pipes!

[helen]

Found this site that says Save the Gar Foundation (http://savethegar.org/index.php) and one of the things available on it are recipes to cook Gar.

[Pretender]

After a trip to the everglades during my youth, alligator gars and sturgeons used to give me nightmares for years. Big ugly prehistoric looking fish.