Angler's Mail and The Sun are leading a media fright fest over a giant snakehead sighting in the UK.

Giant snakeheads are a vicious fish from east Asia. They can grow to be longer than 3 feet, weight more than 44 pounds, and are considers by some to be "more dangerous than the piranha." A British angler snagged the ferocious fish from a river in Lincolnshire, England. The scaled savage was probably dumped into the river when it outgrew some chap's aquarium. But several UK papers have asked if a snakehead invasion is lurking beneath the surface of English waterways.

(Credit: Maryland Department of Natural Resources Fisheries Service)

Yes, by posting this, Monster-Watch is simply fueling an over-hyped tabloid frenzy about a creature very few Britons will ever encounter. But let me feed you some truth:

The US Geological Survey reported that fishers and swimmers who stumbled too close to a snakehead's young "were attacked, some seriously wounded, and there have been fatalities." Children have been dragged under and in one instance a man was "nearly castrated by an attacking giant snakehead."

Even when left alone, a snakehead will "kill more fishes than it consumes."

The Sun (a less scrupulous source than the USGS) reported that "snakeheads caused chaos when they were found in America in 2002, with snipers setting up on banksides to shoot them."

So, should you head for your sniper rifle? Probably not. But you should certainly avoid snakeheads at all cost. Need more proof? Check out the video we've linked to below. It gives me the heebie jeebies.