1 June 2013 / leggypeggy

The piranhas didn’t have a chance

Brazil, fish, Oasis Overland, Pantanal, piranhas, Santa Clara, South America, travel

Look at those choppers!

Piranhas ‘are the most ferocious fish in the world. Even the most formidable fish, the sharks or the barracudas, usually attack things smaller than themselves. But the piranhas habitually attack things much larger than themselves. They will snap a finger off a hand incautiously trailed in the water; they mutilate swimmers—in every river town in Paraguay there are men who have been thus mutilated; they will rend and devour alive any wounded man or beast; for blood in the water excites them to madness. They will tear wounded wild fowl to pieces; and bite off the tails of big fish as they grow exhausted when fighting after being hooked.’

Rael on her fifth

Julia catches her first

That’s what US President Theodore Roosevelt wrote in his book Through the Brazilian Wilderness. He’d been in Brazil on a hunting expedition in 1913 and witnessed a shocking spectacle. Local fisherman had blocked off part of the Amazon River and starved the imprisoned piranhas for several days before Teddy arrived. They then pushed a cow into the water, where it was instantly torn apart by the hungry fish.

In reality, piranhas aren’t quite so scary. Usually they are 14 to 26 cm long (5.5–10.25 in), although some have been reported to be up to 43 cm (17 in). Their teeth are razor sharp and they do love meat. Deaths occur every now and then, but victims are likely to be children or a drunk who has fallen into the water. They sometimes bite swimmers, but such bites are usually viewed as an act of carelessness on the part of the swimmer.

A caiman comes to grab a piranha snack

Piranhas are found throughout Brazil in rivers, lakes and coastal areas. Oh, and you are quite likely to see them for sale in a local market. They’re good eaters—and good eating.

So why did I say the piranhas didn’t have a chance? It’s because we spent a morning piranha fishing and took 40 or 50 fish out of the system. It was a matter of dip in a line and pull out a fish.

It was a highlight activity during our Christmas stay at Pousada Santa Clara in the Pantanal. Our catch got cooked up for lunch. It’s a good thing there was plenty of other food, because our fishy victims were pretty small.

We’ll be back in the Pantanal in July as part of our next overland journey, and we’re hoping piranha fishing is on the to-do list.