Snakeheads

After more than a thousand Northern snakeheads were discovered in a Crofton, Md., pond in May 2002, the state Department of Natural Resources alerted everyone to be watchful for this invasive alien species of carnivorous fish that eats other fish, amphibians, birds and small mammals and can breathe air for days while walking from pond to pond.

So successfully did the state spread the alarm that man-eating snakeheads enjoyed a brief vogue in straight-to-video monster movies: Night of the Snakehead Fish, Snakehead Terror (starring Bruce Boxleitner and Carol Alt), Swarm of the Snakehead, Frankenfish.

While they don't eat people, the real-life snakeheads are still a problem -- hence an upcoming Trout Unlimited symposium on the topic, July 20 at Big Run State Park.