Kansas
Was that a shark in that Kansas lake?
Despite what you may read online, it’s perfectly safe to swim in Glen Elder Reservoir without fear of a shark attack.
And staying clear of blue-green algae, not alligators, is still the main concern at Milford Reservoir.
Add both to a long list of wildlife hoaxes in Kansas being spread over the internet, said state wildlife officials.
During the past 24 hours a photo of a small girl kneeling beside a shark, with the title “Fresh Water Shark caught in Glen Elder Lake,” has shown up on Facebook, some online angling sites and, apparently, lots of private accounts. The link also said the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks was warning “no one swim or go on or in the water until we can assess the situation.”
The fish was allegedly caught Wednesday, by a Glen Elder angler named Ima Lion. (Get it?)
“You’d have thought that would have been the first clue it wasn’t right,” said Jeff Rader, a fishing guide at the lake about 165 miles north of Wichita. “I did have one of my guides contact me, though, and he was kind of worried about it. I said ‘Come on, you work out on that lake.’ ”
A clerk at Glen Elder State Park, who wouldn’t give her name, said they’ve gotten several phone calls about the alleged shark. Most people called to joke about it, though some had taken it as a fact and were worried if it was safe to come to the lake.
Doug Nygren, Wildlife and Parks fisheries chief, wasn’t overly surprised by the hoax, and said he’d seen several things attributed to sharks recently caught in the Great Lakes, Iowa and several other states.
While it would be a long shot, and take some human transportation, Nygren said it is, technically, possible for a shark to survive in Kansas waters.
“Only the bull shark can live in fresh water, and they sometimes do swim up into rivers,” said Nygren. “Most other sharks couldn’t survive in fresh water. One reason is they’d sink to the bottom. Their buoyancy would be bad in fresh water.”
Several sources online, including In-Fisherman, said bull sharks have traveled up the Mississippi River. In 1937 one was caught near Alton, Ill., nearly 1,700 miles from the Gulf of Mexico. Dams along the river now make it impossible for bull sharks to travel far up the Mississippi. One was found more than 2,500 miles up the Amazon River.
Also over the 24 hours another online hoax has developed about an alligator at Milford Reservoir, about 115 miles northeast of Wichita. According to the hoax, wildlife authorities had arrested a man who was trying to sell exotic animals like alligators and venomous cottonmouths and rattlesnakes at Milford. Allegedly the unnamed Louisiana man was caught as he released 23 of the rattlesnakes, not native to Kansas, near a bridge at the north end of the lake.
Mike Miller, Wildlife and Parks information chief, said none of it is true. The story and photo are credited to Channel 24 news, a well-known source of hoaxes and pranks.
Alligators have made the news in Kansas. Several years ago a dead alligator was found floating at Coffey County Lake, the site of the Wolf Creek nuclear power plant. It’s believed someone either released it alive, and it died, or dumped it already dead. Near Cheney State Park, in 2005, a 4-foot alligator was found very much alive. It was a pet that had escaped a nearby residence.
Miller said wildlife-related hoaxes are not new to Kansas. A few weeks ago he saw a photo online of a huge shark being lifted by a front end loader. It was said to have been found in the Kansas River near Lawrence. Most Kansas wildlife hoaxes have involved mountain lions.
A year ago a photo of a mountain lion, lying in a corn field, made the rounds, saying it was photographed by an oil field worker or farmer in one of several locations in western Kansas.
Generally, the mountain lion photos draw more response – and fool more people – than the ones with fish or alligators. Even those who know they are hoaxes still have fun with the stories.
On the Kansas Hunting and Fishing Facebook page, Council Grove outdoorsman Scott Allen chimed in after seeing the fake pictures of the shark and alligator in Kansas.
“Come on people! There are no gators in Kansas” Allen typed. “The black panthers and water moccasins killed them off.”
Black panthers do not live in the U.S. in the wild. Except for two snakes in extreme southeast Kansas many years ago, water moccasins (aka cottonmouths) have not been found in Kansas, either.
Michael Pearce: 316-268-6382, @PearceOutdoors
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