Foraging native mussels

[tjm]

Show how bad my biology is`, at RRSP last fall;  I was watching what I thought was an otter for several minutes, then it finally turned away and waddled off, man that was the biggest groundhog that I've ever seen! Looked like a 30#er. But like that big bass it got away.

[BilletHead]

32 minutes ago, tjm said:

 

Not long ago, a week or three, either someone told me or I read it here that he'd seen beavers eating trout at RRSP.  Might have been the local preacher I can't recall, but maybe beavers eat the same things as those muskrats. Like I said I'm not a biologist.

 

            Being curious I looked up beaver diets too, nothing said about eating anything but tree bark and greens including clover. I have a pond near Metz a guy wants me to do some pest control on beaver. Not worth anything but help a guy out I will. A couple otter followed me around the pond while I was scouting. Swam within 15 feet of me. When I showed him these pictures he really got wound up and really, really wants them gone. they were both fishing when I first seen them, come up with a small fish and crunch they were gone. The beaver had been eating his corn too. Second time I have witnessed that happening. Not the corn plant itself but cleaning the corn off the ears.

[tjm]

You probably don't want to mess with it, but, Kaatz is offering $75/lb for dry castor. Peterman isn't too far from you and wants castor, I don't know for what price, but if you are setting traps it might be worth looking into.

o, Peterman is buying otters and skulls too

[grizwilson]

19 minutes ago, BilletHead said:

            Being curious I looked up beaver diets too, nothing said about eating anything but tree bark and greens including clover. I have a pond near Metz a guy wants me to do some pest control on beaver. Not worth anything but help a guy out I will. A couple otter followed me around the pond while I was scouting. Swam within 15 feet of me. When I showed him these pictures he really got wound up and really, really wants them gone. they were both fishing when I first seen them, come up with a small fish and crunch they were gone. The beaver had been eating his corn too. Second time I have witnessed that happening. Not the corn plant itself but cleaning the corn off the ears.

Skin that one pilgrim and I'll get you another......

[BilletHead]

10 minutes ago, tjm said:

You probably don't want to mess with it, but, Kaatz is offering $75/lb for dry castor. Peterman isn't too far from you and wants castor, I don't know for what price, but if you are setting traps it might be worth looking into.

o, Peterman is buying otters and skulls too

           Thanks for the info. I go way back with the buyers in Collins. Used to sell to Bud Keller. Have a buddy who traps out of Weaubleau and I took out the caster last year and gave it to him. If I do score on the otters if they are still there, I will take them to Kaatz. 

[Gbowsher]

Its hard to believe that nobody on here has first hand experience eating a fried (or otherwise cooked) Ozark stream mussel. I am really curious to try it now. I have happened across them an untold number of times but never once even crossed my mind to retain and cook them. 

[fishinwrench]

40 minutes ago, Gbowsher said:

Its hard to believe that nobody on here has first hand experience eating a fried (or otherwise cooked) Ozark stream mussel. I am really curious to try it now. I have happened across them an untold number of times but never once even crossed my mind to retain and cook them. 

Used mussel meat for catfish bait when we were kids.  It wasn't the best, but it would do when you couldn't find anything else.   Snapping turtles love it. 

I don't know why nobody from our group never cooked and ate any of them.   Filter feeders were just never considered something we'd wanna eat.  

[Gumboot]

22 hours ago, thebiologist said:

 

 

 

Thousands or dozens???

 

 

There are 83-85 mussel species native to Arkansas....14 are endangered...1 extirpated.

Yes, welcome to the forum.  Wrench will be sending you a friend request shortly.

[BilletHead]

       I would be willing to try sometime but the way it sounds will need some pressure cooking before or after frying. I am in the Wrench camp them being a filter feeder. Not high on my priority list.

[Maverickpro201]

On 1/26/2022 at 6:31 PM, Maverickpro201 said:

When we were kids and go on Camping trips we saned for bait. We always got mussels also. Grand Dad would shuck them and clean them and then fry them up in his special batter. They were really good, from what I remember. 

We did