In Irish rivers and lakes, the pike is a top predator [unless you count fishermen]. They can grow up to lengths of between 30 and 120 cm [the record for a pike was set in Germany, for a pike that 152 cm long]. Pike will eat almost anything – small fish, frogs and even small waterbirds. They are ambush predators – remaining still in the water until prey moves within range, and then darting suddenly towards the prey. It has backward-facing teeth which makes it harder for prey to escape. But even a predator like a pike start off as a little ‘un, and it have every cause to be nervous. Mortality rates for pike are huge – when a mature adult female lays her eggs, she is literally one in a million (she can lay up to 20,000 eggs at a time, most of them destined to be foodstuff for other creatures while they are still very young). There is one very familiar predator that a growing pike has to watch out for – other pike. Pike are very opportunistic and if another pike, particularly a younger or smaller one is available, it will get eaten [this study estimated a mortality rate due to cannibalism rate of around 65%, albeit in an enclosed environment]. The pike pictured above was photographed in shallow waters in Lough Corrib – it was only 8 to 10 cms long. It has a long way to go.