In early August, 39-year-old Matt Gervais trained at Lake St. Clair, which is located on the border between the Canadian province of Ontario and the US state of Michigan. But his preparation for the Ironman Triathlon took a painful turn. When a muskrat attacked him in the water, Gervais learned how painful a pike’s bite can be.
Pike Bite: The wound required 13 stitches
As the fish bit his hand, a “sharp, burning pain”, as Gervais describes it, ran through him. He could see the musky underwater before the mighty predator freed himself from the fish. His hand was like a “bloodbath”. Luckily, Gervais was not alone on the lake. A friend helped him out of the water and took him to the hospital. The wound left by the pike bite required 13 stitches.
Gervais has been a triathlete since 2005 and actually trains for the Ironman, one of the biggest triathlons in the world. But he admits: “Friday was not a good day.” The encounter with Muskie burns itself into his mind. “It would be hard to jump back into the lake,” he said in an interview with People magazine. “The other lakes aren’t a problem for me, but if I swim by this point again, I’d be surprised what’s still hidden here.”
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Musks rarely or never attack humans
However, reports of pike bites or bites from musky are rare, as they do not target people. This “attack” was probably a bad bite as well. Professor Trevor Pitcher of the Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research suspects that the muskrat may have mistook the athlete’s fingers for small fish and therefore slightly down.
Image: Blinker / B Rosemeijer
The muscular lung, or fleshy for short, can be significantly larger and heavier than that of the European pike. The fish, native to the United States and Canada, is very popular with anglers.
fleshy or muscular lungs (asox maskinongi) is a relative of the European pike and is native to North America. It is mainly found in the St. Lawrence River, Hudson Bay and Upper Mississippi. The fish can be up to 1.80 meters long and weigh up to 30 kilograms. The musk can be easily distinguished from the pike by its striped body pattern, which, however, may fade with age.
Incidentally, its name “muscle lung” has nothing to do with muscles or lungs. According to a general theory, it is derived from the language of the Ojibwa, a first nation based around the Great Lakes of the United States and Canada. word “MashkinuzheMeans “ugly pike” or “big fish”. One suspects a connection with the French word “masque alonge” (long mask), referring to the long head of the muscular lung.
They: People
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