While reading my portion of the morning news in my favorite location, I suddenly heard the agitated voice of the VOR. "I knew it! I was right! They are voracious eaters AND can fly out of the water!!". Upon checking I discovered that the invasive Asian flying silver carp have been discovered in one of the pools of the Mississippi River near LaCrosse.
Blog readers will recall that last spring, on a day which will live in infamy, the VoiceOfReason was suddenly and deliberately attacked by forces of the Empire of Carpdom. Apparently this article triggered her pre breakfast outburst, reliving what she called 'the most terrified I've ever been kayaking'. It is a bit disconcerting that once again an exotic and invasive species has been introduced into our environment, this time apparently by lax commercial fish farmers rather than through the ballast tanks of Great Lakes Freighters. My guess is that one of these guys could easily knock a kayaker over if they came flying out of the water. The good thing is that what agitates them is the sound of an outboard motor. I'll admit that sound agitates me at times also, especially when paddling in remote and quiet areas such as Voyageurs Nat'l Park. Hmmm....given the cigarette boat racing controversy in the Apostles, maybe we could move the races to one of the pools above LaCrosse. That way you could solve two aggravating problems---but no, its cruel of me to even mention it. Although jet ski competitions.....sorry, I'm sorry.
Its sad that I have not even strapped on the skis yet and already I'm thinking about paddling the Trempealeau pool. This weekend the SKOAC Renegades are talking about the initial cross country ski outing at Elm Creek. BjornDahlie and the IrishPirate already have some time in and are heading for Colorado soon. Maybe once I get the skis on my kayak angst will subside. Or maybe not.
(flying carp photo by Pioneer Press)
3 comments:
It's funny - I want to say something funny about the VOR and the Return of the Carp.
Except it doesn't sound like it's anything to joke about.
Carp in general are not a good thing. Ones that eat the small creatures and vegetation at the very bottom of the food chain is very bad indeed. But watching someone freak as the carp roil and roll around the kayak....now THAT you can joke about.
Were you joking or carping about the situation...on a scale of 1-5 a good fish story...nd a brewing mega problem.
Post a Comment