Piranas

When I was little, I was terrified of piranas. Used to visit Aunt Alma's brother, who lived in a house on a canal/lake network. I loved the water, and swimming and fishing for catfish, throwing the ball for Gigi. A truly lovely break from being a city girl. But there were these little minnows that schooled on the beach/boat ramp where I liked to dip my toes. Until I saw the National Geographic (probably, could have been any of a number of nature shows) about piranas. Eating people. Didn't stop me getting in the water, but not without a great deal of trepidation.

For years after, I had recurrent dreams about fish eating my toes off.

The effect has worn off over the (many) years. Until I ran across a National Geographic article today, about giving a little love to the piranas. Or Piranhas if you prefer.

Big (living) animals aren’t the usual target. Unless they are starving, as is sometimes the case during the dry season in the Amazon when water levels drop, piranhas rarely attack a much larger animal (such as you), though bites and lost toes do occur, and blood in the water does get them riled up.

Strangely enough, I did not find this particularly reassuring.