School Of 30 Fish 'Walking' Through Neighborhood Shocks Homeowners (Florida)

Local 6 ^ | July 16, 2008

[Shermy]

PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. -- About 30 fish were spotted "walking" through a Florida neighborhood, shocking homeowners who said they've never seen anything like it.

"I was like, 'No way there's fish in the street,'" homeowner Dianna Fernandez said. "And I kept going further and further and seeing fish everywhere -- in driveways. I've never seen anything like it."

The walking catfish were spotted in the road near a Pinellas Park subdivision Tuesday.

The fish used their pectoral fins to walk or shuffle around the streets. Video showed the fish moving through the neighborhood.

A scientist with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said the catfish can travel on land as long as they stay moist.

"We thought it was a prank at first," resident Hannah Cline said. "(We thought) that maybe somebody dumped some fish but then we realized that it was coming up from the sewer that we had so much rain last night."

Experts said the type of fish spotted in the neighborhood likely hit the land because of the large amounts of rain in the area.

Homeowners said it is the first time they've ever seen fish in their neighborhood.

[Shermy]

Video on this page

[gorush]

The fish are probably just as surprised to see us swimming.

[WayneS]

What’s so unusual about a herd of fish on the move?

Maybe they were being driven to market.

[Shermy]

.

[TornadoAlley3]

[A_perfect_lady]

Catfish are cool.

[iThinkBig]

Ever hear of evolution?

[theDentist]

Agreed. I’ve always found it amusing that people will drive a thousand miles to the oceanfront and go no more than 20 feet into the surf.

[AU72]

Crank up the Fry-o-lator.

[txroadkill]

The fish are probably just as surprised to see us swimming.

LOL

they must have heard I was planning to go fishing and decided to just surrender.

[Publius]

The Florida walking catfish is inedible.

[DoughtyOne]

Okay, but where there tiny little crop circles on the front lawns? That’s what I want know.

[Shermy]

“Crank up the Fry-o-lator.”

You must watch the video, if you haven’t already.

[Kirkwood]

I just had all-u-can-eat catfish for lunch. Time for a nap.

[Wil H]

School Of 30 Fish 'Walking' Through Neighborhood Shocks Homeowners (Florida)

What's odd about that?

I used to walk to school..

[Frank_2001]

“Agreed. I’ve always found it amusing that people will drive a thousand miles to the oceanfront and go no more than 20 feet into the surf.”

It’s also amusing that the price of seafood gets more expensive the closer you get to the beach;)

[Joe Brower]

Florida Freeper

[kjo]

NBC says it’s Bush’s fault.

[Enosh]

“The fish used their pectoral fins to walk or shuffle around the streets.”

They also use them to skewer fishermen.

Or, umm... so I’m told...

[WayneS]

In the video they are moving in kind of a herky-jerky fashion. If they were near me I’d be concerned about them being rabid...

[techcor]

Caused by Global Warming?

[MissEdie]

Considering it was coming out of the sewers I’d hope it’s not edible.

[Celerity]

Get your helmet and prepare for the FReepSlam®

[Clint N. Suhks]

[gridlock]

THREE TREE
Three Fish in a Tree

Fish in a Tree?
How can that be?

[fso301]

Put some leftover 4th of July fireworks in their mouths.

[tiredoflaundry]

LOL! That has happened by my house! (the fish were smaller).

It was after a deluge of rain that flooded everything!

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

About 30 fish were spotted "walking" through a Florida neighborhood, shocking homeowners who said they've never seen anything like it.

What's the name of their gang?
"Hell's Mackerels"?

[Dubh_Ghlase]

Moved to a new development in Pasco county in 2000, which was a drought year. In August, a storm blew through that dropped 9” of rain in 3 hours! The street had so much water that it looked like a river. As I was driving through it, I saw a whole bunch of these catfish on someones lawn, just loving it. It was the beginning of a very strange hiatus in Florida...

[Nick Danger]

[Cheburashka]

Reminds me of that old EDS Superbowl commercial where they were herding catfish to market.

Oh, wait a minute, that was cats, not catfish.

Never mind.

[xJones]

It is surprising, it’s not November and it’s too early for them to be voting in Florida.

[Young Werther]

Democarps headin’ for denver!

[BallyBill]

They're walking to Pennsylvania. They know as long as my son and I are fishing here, they are safe from ever being caught.

[N. Theknow]

School Of 30 Fish 'Walking' Through Neighborhood Shocks Homeowners (Florida)

School?

Walking?

Hmmm?

Uphill both ways?

Well, at least it's in Florida so there is no snow.

[Ruy Dias de Bivar]

Did threy have crossing guards out?

[swarthyguy]

Nice of the neighborhood boys not to splat them with their bicycles.

[Pajama Blogger]

The catfish started walking when gas reached $4.00/gal.

[Nathan Zachary]

"Ever hear of evolution?"

Oh, so they were "evolving" were they? You'd think they would have grown feet by now, since catfih have been doing this for thousands of years. Strangely, they are still catfish. No feet, no fingers, no lungs, no teeth to eat squirels and poodles that cross their paths.

[freedomlover]

Once I was riding with my Dad through Clearwater FL at night past some canals on the way to the grocery store.

Suddenly we drove through this HUGE swarm of small frogs. I have never seen so many frogs in my life.

On the way back we were looking for the swarm at the same spot - it was gone except for two tire-width stripes of frog mush.

To a 12 year old boy it was the neatest thing in the world.

[okie01]

Obviously, these were catfish who recognized their role in life.

They were marching to the deep fryer, no doubt.

[Fresh Wind]

Homeowner’s were shocked? What were they, electric eels?

[Crawdad]

Were they wearing IPods?

[My hearts in London - Everett]

I consider all catfish inedible. They are bottom feeders and will eat anything - no matter how nasty! (I used to eat them until I learned that!)

[Amos the Prophet]

It is a Clarius catfish, invasive species in Florida from S Am. It destroys nesting habitat of game fish and takes over wqaterways. It is an airbreather, able to live in conditions intolerable to other fish. Its spines are toxic. It will also kill anything it can get close enough to.
I have seen a 6 inch clarius kill a 4’ catfish by biting its tail until it had no tail left. An altogether nasty customer. Edible, dunno. They are too aggravating to try.

[Grampa Dave]

Don’t worry about the catfish walking on the roads.

Worry abour what is crawling along after the catfish looking for a fish dinner.

[Othniel]

Why were they walking? Because they couldn't hitchike.

Thank you. I'm here all week. Enjoy our Catfish Buffet...

[Publius]

I remember the "National Geographic" articles when the South American walking catfish invaded Florida 40 years ago.

A thoroughly nasty and disreputable fish.

[wastedyears]

LOL

[wastedyears]

That’s some weird stuff.