People were left terrified after spotting the menacing claws of a crayfish, originally confused for a scorpion.
The creature was spotted in Woodbank Park, Stockport, reports the Manchester Evening News.
Jamie Wardle shared a post of the creature on Facebook after his dog found it, saying it was around four to six inches in length.
Residents initially thought that it was a scorpion due to its claws, until Leon McCreery correctly identified it as a crayfish.
He should know - his dog, Smudge, has developed a talent for finding them and trying to herd them.
“[Smudge] is an ancient breed from Spain and they are used to herd cattle and on farms,” the 39-year-old continued, “I just saw him trying to herd something. I went over to him and thought it was a scorpion.
“Someone else said it was a crayfish and put it back in the pond.”
Leon and Smudge’s encounter took place in December last year, but the stay-at-home dad says he’s spotted the creatures several times since then.
These meetings have sparked Leon’s appreciation for the wider biodiversity to be found in Woodbank Park, in Offerton.
“There’s a lot up there,” he added, “you see all the squirrels and the birds.”
“You do not know about it until you come across it — then you start looking up more about it.”
It’s thought the crayfish spotted by Leon and Jamie are native white-clawed crayfish — a species under threat from signal crayfish, which are native to America.
According to the Inland Waterways Association, numbers of European white clawed crayfish have declined by 50-80 percent in the last ten years.
It is classified as ‘endangered’ on the IUCN red list of threatened species and is at risk of global extinction.
