FAIRBANKS, Alaska, June 10 (UPI) -- The Alaska Department of Fish and Game is warning residents of an unusual phenomenon -- blood-sucking fish falling out of the sky.

The department said in a Facebook post it received four reports in a single week of the toothed fish, identified as lampreys, being found on dry land in the Fairbanks area.


"The local Value Village store found a live lamprey in their parking lot," the post read. "Another resident called and said he found one on his lawn!"

The department said it's unlikely the lampreys have learned to fly.

"The answer is probably gulls. Gulls are picking them out of the Chena River with their bills and then dropping the squirming critters while in flight," the post said. "Arctic lampreys spawn in the Chena River, and live in the mud underwater as juveniles for several years. However, many lifelong Alaskans have never seen one of these fascinating fish up close because their body shape and feeding habits make them difficult to catch."

Look closely at the bruising and cut marks. These marks are also on the other side of the lamprey. Evidence that they were squeezed between the bill of a gull. Posted by Alaska Department of Fish and Game - Official on Wednesday, June 3, 2015

Lampreys, which resemble eels, are easily identified by their disc-like mouths filled with small, sharp teeth. The department said lampreys use their teeth and tongues to bite through the scales of other fish and feast on their blood.

"Commercial and subsistence fishers throughout Alaska are quite familiar with the tell-tale, dime-sized circular scars on salmon and trout that have been fed upon by lampreys," the department said on its website.