Freaky Fish InvasionScientists Stalk the Snakehead Fish

September 4, 2002-Last week, top scientistsrushed to a small pond inMaryland. The pond had

'" been invaded by somevery strange fish. And thefish were causing majorproblems!

The freaky fish werenorthern snakeheads fromChina. Snakehead fish arethree feet long and slimy.Their skin is covered withblack spots.

How did these alieninvaders get here? Theywere brought into the U.S.illegally. Then someonedumped them into theMaryland pond.

Snakeheads have bigmouths and sharp teeth.

They are very powerfulpredators. So, the other fishdidn't have a chance. Thesnakeheads ate them up.

The scientists hadanother thing to worryabout. The Little Patuxent ,River is near the pond.Because snakeheads cancrawl short distancesacross land, they mightreach the river. They'd killthe fish there, too.

To stop the snakeheads,police sprayed poisonouschemicals into thewater. As a result, thesnakeheads died. Thenscientists filled the pondwith native fish. The pondis safe-until the nextinvader arrives. ~

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Help! The aliens have invaded!

But these aliens don't come fromouter space. They're plants andanimals from other countries. Whenthey land in the U.S.,alien invaderscause huge problems. They destroythe environment. They kill nativeplants and animals. They eventhreaten people.

Scientists know theseinvaders must be stopped.The question is: How?