Two northern pike lunge forward to seize yellow perch that have ventured too near. Throughout their natural range in North America, perch and pike coexist and the former provides much of the food for the latter. Perch are not the only fish eaten. Pike are predatory opportunists and will eat anything they can seize and swallow with their wide jaws filled with needle-sharp teeth. Anything that moves and enters the pike’s realm is potentially on the menu: swimming mice and voles, muskrats, frogs, and even ducklings and other aquatic birds. The scientific name Esox lucius fits this voracious predator. Both are derived from Greek words; Esox refers to a trout-like fish and lucius means wolf. Waterwolves they are!
