Over the years as Southeastern Reptile Rescue grows more and more, we are constantly being called on for snake questions from all over Georgia. Recently, we received a call of a different sort from a Georgia county 911 center. The dispatcher asked if I could come to their county and identify a fish. I told her that this organization usually only deals with reptiles. The dispatcher then said that a man was fishing earlier that day and caught a fish that he believes to be a piranha! Now she had my attention. Just out of sheer curiosity, Sarah and I decided to go and try to identify the fish and if nothing else have a good fish story to tell. Upon arriving,  I met the local fisherman who said that he was fishing in a very popular lake here in Georgia and was using live worms with 20lb. test line when something grabbed his bait and immediately broke the line. The fisherman said that he quickly grabbed another pole and cast into the same area and was able to hook the worm stealing fish in the gills and reel it in. Immediately he knew this was not a Georgia fish so he put it in a bucket of water and called 911. Once Sarah and I arrived we were both very surprised to see the now floating fish. I took several photos of the fish and told the fisherman that it was either a Pacu or Piranha. The fisherman wanted very much for it to be a piranha because well; how cool would that be? I returned home and did some research and discovered that it was in fact a pacu which is native to the Amazon River in South America. Next, I contacted the Georgia Dept. of Natural Resources who said that they were extremely interested in the fish especially since it came from such a popular lake. The DNR asked if I could get the fish to them so I met a representative from DNR who took the fish to wherever it is that they take strange fish. After it was all said and done, I discovered that these fish are not totally unheard of in Georgia. In fact, there are about 3 or 4 sightings reported each year in the state. Supposedly, the fish pose no threat to swimmers because they are primarily herbivors meaning they prefer plant matter. This fish obviously didn't get that memo after gobbling up a juicy red wiggler!