Friday Fishin Foto 7-19-13

[Chief Grey Bear]

Here is something you don't see everyday. Yeah it looks like any ordinary crawdad. But this particular species call the open terrain home. This is the somewhat elusive Prairie Crawdad. My son and I went to a MDC prairie area after some very early morning storms and as we were walking to a pond to fish, we started seeing these dry land crustaceans.

Usually when you walk around the prairie, you see signs of these aquatic creatures such as burrows, sheds and occasionally even a deceased one. Not something you would expect to see sometimes miles from the normal conditions associated with prime crawdad habitat.

But on this day we saw about a dozen or so out feeding. We stopped and watched as they went about their bussiness. I explained to CD how many years I had spent in prairie environments before ever seeing one live. And to see this many at one time to me was really super and I was glad to share that with him.

[Chief Grey Bear]

I want to add these too as they are really, really cool. This is a female we found that was carring new hatch young on her tail. Now as you riverrats know, this is a special enough occasion to find on the rivers and creeks, but to see this on a creature that is rarely seen by humans, unless they are specifially looking for them....well....to me its priceless!

[ColdWaterFshr]

Momma craw! cool. never seen one

[Terrierman]

Awesome Chief.

[Chief Grey Bear]

I apologize to those viewing this on their phone. The pics will appear upside down.

I don't know why it does this. I took the pics with my phone. I have to email them to myself to post and when I do, it turns them upside down. I correct this and save it. But when you view it on your phone, bor some reason, they flip again.

So have someone hold your phone for you and stand on your head. The world will be right then.

[BilletHead]

Neat pictures chief. We have quite a few around here. Spring storms bring them out. We called them chimney crawdads as sometimes they build quite the mound of mud upright from there holes. When the storms hit we find them crossing rural roads seeking wetter pastures to make home. I catch them and pitch into our koi pond where the channel cat and perch tear them to pieces. Baby dads try to escape and the koi suck them up like candy,

BilletHead

[Chief Grey Bear]

About 3-4 years ago, the family and I were hiking around Prairie State Park. We had topped a tall mound and were several feet in elevation higher to the surrounding area. At the top of this mound was a bison wallow. And in that wallow were thousands and thousands of juvenile crawdad sheds. Just a little bigger than the one on Dylan's finger. The wallow was bone dry and the shells were bleached pure white from the blazing prairie sun.

[laker67]

As always Chief, very cool pics. Back in the 70's we were excavating near bothwell college at the edge of the prairie land around sedalia. Turned out 3 maybe 4 one moring. Did not know of a prairie crawdad until you posted this. Thanks for the info.

[Old plug]

A scorpion will carry her young the same way chief and is usually in a real nasty mood when doing so. Turned over a Rick in the garden few years ago and there was a mommy and babies under there's. She rared up like that crawfish but she charged as well. Babies flying all directions. I beat a hasty retreat.

[Al Agnew]

Many years ago when I was living in Jackson, MO, it was getting close to the 4th of July, so we went to buy some fireworks. The fireworks stand along the highway was at the edge of a wheat field, with a tiny wet weather creek about 50 yards away. All the foot traffic around the big tent had beaten the wheat flat. As my wife was paying for the fireworks, I glanced around just in time to see a wheat stalk suddenly rise up to vertical and then sink vertically out of sight, about 10 feet away. Well, I was curious, of course, so I quietly walked a bit closer, noting a hole in the vicinity that was about an inch or a little bigger in diameter. I waited a minute, and suddenly this crawdad emerged from the hole, grabbed another wheat stalk by the head, and backed into the hole, dragging it down. It was a pretty funny sight.