Discarded pet turns duck killer

And you thought it was safe to go back in the water. A pond in a north London park seems an unlikely location for scenes worthy of Peter Benchley's best selling novel Jaws.

But some of the children feeding the ducks and moorhens in Waterlow Park, Highgate, have had to watch in horror as the birds' fluffy young are dragged beneath the surface of the dark, foreboding waters; the tiny wings flapping to escape the monsters of the deep.

And what were these mysterious beasts lurking in the chilly waters?

Park wardens were sent in to investigate and after a hunt which would have had Steven Spielberg's hackles bristling, the culprits were found to be none other than . . . red-eared terrapins.

Hardly the most terrifying beasts of the animal kingdom when you think that many children keep the 50p piece-size babies in tanks in their bedrooms.

Therein lies the problem, explains Dave Humphrys, one of the wardens at the Highgate park. He said: "After the Ninja Turtles craze during the Nineties, lots of kids went out and bought terrapins as pets.

"But they can grow as large as a dinner plate and many of them were dumped in our ponds when owners decided they couldn't cope with the responsibility.

"Over time, the terrapins have built up colonies and that's been bad news for our waterfowl population. People really need to be aware of the damage being done to our wildlife through the owners' irresponsibility."

The terrapin's predatory nature has led to several instances of carnage in the ostensibly peaceful setting. The pond's waters were hardly flowing with blood but it was clearly enough to upset visitors.

Mr Humphrys explained: "The public are often our eyes and ears in the park and several reported seeing the young chicks of moorhens and coots as well as ducks and geese being dragged beneath the surface.

"Once beneath the water others in the colony would bite chunks out of the young birds and ultimately devour them.

"These waterfowl tend to nest quite high up and the mothers aren't particularly aggressive which means their young are easier pickings for the terrapins.

"Over the past few years we have noticed a reduction in the number of young and while that could be caused by any number of predators such as foxes, it is the terrapins which are the most interesting."

The size of the colonies which are found in two of the park's ponds is difficult to quantify as the reptiles are hard to catch.

Mr Humphrys added: "You need to use real stealth in order to catch them as they're so quick. We've tried netting them from boats but with little success. The best time to catch them is early in the morning when they're still warming up. They like sunbathing on the islands around the pond and that's when they're the easiest to get hold of."

Even then it's still not a safe task. Gloves have to be worn as a terrapin's shell can often harbour viruses such as salmonella.

Mr Humphrys said: "Once they get hold of you they won't let go."