T
Terry Wilkinson
Guest
Whilst spending a few days in Appleby in Westmoreland recently I heard that lampreys had been spotted locally in the River Eden. Now I have never seen one of these strange creatures so I had a look on the net and came across the photos in the link below. Apparently, they only feed in salt water, attaching themselves to larger fishes via their sucker like mouths and then using their rasping teeth to extract blood and body fluids from the unfortunate fish.
I am told the Eden lampreys were large which suggests that these were sea lampreys which grow to over 3ft long!
Coupled with that truly scary mouth ( see photo ) thank God they don't feel peckish in fresh water!
My father tells me that as a lad in the 30's he fished the Wharfe at Tadcaster and to gain access to an island that used to be just below the weir, he had to wade bare legged through water in which dozens of lampreys milled about. He still shudders at the thought.
http://www.english-nature.org.uk/lifeinukrivers/species/lamprey.html
I am told the Eden lampreys were large which suggests that these were sea lampreys which grow to over 3ft long!
Coupled with that truly scary mouth ( see photo ) thank God they don't feel peckish in fresh water!
My father tells me that as a lad in the 30's he fished the Wharfe at Tadcaster and to gain access to an island that used to be just below the weir, he had to wade bare legged through water in which dozens of lampreys milled about. He still shudders at the thought.
http://www.english-nature.org.uk/lifeinukrivers/species/lamprey.html
