Siren in Delaware?

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Tyler G
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Siren in Delaware?

Post by Tyler G »

This has bugged me for over a year now. Around midnight in May or June of 2012 I was checking a pond behind my house for frogs, water snakes - whatever hits the water on summer nights. I shined my light into the water off the end of my small dock, and there was a black eel-like thing (dare I say Siren) bumping it's head at a small bait can I had set out for catfish. Two nights later I saw it again around the same time, and tried to net it, but it bounced right out of the net as soon as it knew what was going on. The next night it was there again, but swam off as soon as I shined it with the light.

It was over a foot long - hard to tell exactly with the water's size distorting effect - but it was a healthy foot and some change at least. It had a thick body, stockier than any eels I've seen of the same size, and protrusions behind the head. I was looking down at it under about 2-3 feet of water with vegetation on the bottom, so I can't say I clearly saw "gills and legs" but I saw protrusions behind the head. It looked exactly like the profile of a Siren...... Is it possible? As far as I know they aren't on the Delmarva Peninsula, but they're directly west on the other side of the Chesapeake Bay, in Virgina/MD... Could it be?

This is in northern sussex county.
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Matt J
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Re: Siren in Delaware?

Post by Matt J »

I suppose anything is possible but I'd put money on it being an eel. Time to put some traps out there and find out!
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Tyler G
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Re: Siren in Delaware?

Post by Tyler G »

I've logged it in my mind as an eel to prevent myself from going crazy trying to find something that isn't there, but the what-ifs really bug me. I've fished in this pond for 3 years and never have caught or seen an eel - as far as I know we don't have any freshwater eel species in DE - but I'm not very knowledgeable on that subject either. It could be lost live bait I guess.. but unless it grew a lot, I'd think it was way too big to catch anything here.

I have a canoe now, and I'm planning on hitting the water all summer so hopefully I can get a picture if I see it again, or go on the biggest eel hunt ever. The habitat is pretty fitting though...
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cbernz
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Re: Siren in Delaware?

Post by cbernz »

When I was a kid, I found a 3-foot eel in the little pond in my local town park in NJ. This is a tiny little pond fed by a tiny little creek about 3 inches deep, miles from any ocean or major river. Someone must have caught an eel somewhere, kept it for some reason, and then decided to dump it into the pond. I would bet that is the case with your animal. I suppose it could also be a siren that someone had and decided to get rid of.
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The Jake-Man
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Re: Siren in Delaware?

Post by The Jake-Man »

Have you looked into electrofishing? That would be a sure-fire way to confirm what you saw.
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Tyler G
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Re: Siren in Delaware?

Post by Tyler G »

cbernz wrote:When I was a kid, I found a 3-foot eel in the little pond in my local town park in NJ. This is a tiny little pond fed by a tiny little creek about 3 inches deep, miles from any ocean or major river. Someone must have caught an eel somewhere, kept it for some reason, and then decided to dump it into the pond. I would bet that is the case with your animal. I suppose it could also be a siren that someone had and decided to get rid of.
Yeah, you never know what people might release in the water. More than likely it's one of the scenarios you mentioned, I just thought I'd get some input on it.
The Jake-Man wrote:Have you looked into electrofishing? That would be a sure-fire way to confirm what you saw.
Meh, I don't think it would be in good taste to turn the pond into a bug zapper. If there was some kind of hidden population here and they wanted to get a count, that might be plausible, but I'd still leave that up to the proper folks.
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spinifer
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Re: Siren in Delaware?

Post by spinifer »

American Eels are found in freshwater in DE. Here is one that was about 16 inches.

Image
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Mike VanValen
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Re: Siren in Delaware?

Post by Mike VanValen »

American Eel can travel over land and sometimes pop up in unexpected places. I've found them upstream, in rivers, brooks, swamps, lakes, and ponds.
Zombie_Kid
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Re: Siren in Delaware?

Post by Zombie_Kid »

Occam's Razor...eel.
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Tyler G
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Re: Siren in Delaware?

Post by Tyler G »

Thanks for the picture & the info - I can settle on it being an eel, it's obviously much more likely.
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