A GARgantuan fish introduced by DNR

Hearing this news, I suspect few Illinois residents will want to
take a summertime dip in Hennepin-Hopper lakes.

According to a news story in the LaSalle News Tribune,
DNR has released alligator gars in HH.

“The alligator gar grows to 300 pounds and 10 feet long. Its
broad jaws

are lined with jagged teeth. It once lived in the lower Illinois
River but

habitat destruction drove it out,” is how the newspaper
describes the

fish.

DNR received some hatchlings from Kentucky and grew them in
ponds, said Wayne Herndon, DNR fisheries biologist.

“We were trying to get (the gar to feed) on natural foods,
basically

minnows, and at least get a few that were large enough that we
could stock into other waters,” Herndon said.

DNR placed 43 young alligator gar in September into Hennepin and
Hopper Lakes, Herndon said.

The ferocious-looking fish can consume just about any other
river

creature, including waterfowl. They are not known to attack
people…but

still, I think I’ll take my chances in the boat.

Read more about the alligator gar stocking in the Feb.
11 issue of

Illinois Outdoor News.