So I was outside taking my dog out...and a 4 inch crayfish walked across my path. There isn't any water bodies around my apartment complex for at least 1/4 mile...is it usual for these little guys to walk across land to look for stuff?

12/12/2008 1:32:39 PM

When we were kids we used to find them in ditches all the time. There might be a small area where water collects that would support them.

12/12/2008 1:39:51 PM

They live in mud.

DITCH LOBSTERS

12/12/2008 1:50:34 PM

Quote :

"There isn't any water bodies"

12/12/2008 3:08:39 PM

Quote :

"There isn't aren't any water bodies "

They don't absolutely need water and will travel around.
Like the others said, they live in ditches, drainage pipes, or just plain mud. There are probably many spots a crawfish can live that are a lot closer than 1/4 mi from your apt.

I've fought ground fire in a swamp that hadn't had any water within a foot of the ground's surface for a year and found a baked crawfish in the burnt dirt.
I've also fought fire on the south slope of a mountain and found a crawfish midslope in an area where water runs off from a road on the ridge.

They're adaptable lil critters.

12/12/2008 3:10:39 PM

It did just rain a shit-ton last night.

12/12/2008 3:11:42 PM

I think this is a good thread for Mr. Gumbo:





But yeah, Fumbler covered the original question.

12/12/2008 3:45:42 PM

they dont really need water, they are in mud anc silt more often than they are in the water


they are most easily predated in the water, thats where they hunt and they get the hell out and back into their burrows

12/12/2008 3:47:15 PM

It's pronounced CRAW DADDY

12/12/2008 3:47:15 PM

how appropriate...

12/12/2008 3:48:04 PM

Dang, well would you look at that.

12/12/2008 3:53:24 PM

Either way, little guy is now part of my 20 gallon terrarium. Hope he can cut down on my snail population, the tree frog would appreciate it.

Thanks for all the heads up, I had no idea they weren't 100% aquatic.

12/12/2008 4:16:07 PM

Mr. Gumbo has eaten 3 of my 5 danios. Apparently they aren't as top dwelling as they should be.

12/12/2008 5:39:17 PM

Quote :

" Crayfish As Food What eats crayfish? Fish are probably the main consumers of crayfish. What fisherman (or am I supposed to say fisher person now?) doesn't have a rubber crayfish lure in his (or her) tackle box? But turtles, raccoons, mink, herons, cranes and lots of other critters will chow down on crayfish when they can catch them. Crayfish are an important part of the aquatic food chain. They are also an important part of the human food chain! Well, not so much in these parts, (Though you'd eat a lobster, right?) but in many parts of the world crayfish are a delicacy. Remember how Jed, Ellie-May, Grannie and especially Jethro would smack their lips at the thought of a big pot of crawdad gumbo? (Crawdad or crawfish are other names for crayfish.) "

http://www.naturenorth.com/fall/crayfish/cray2.htm

the ONLY reason I am posting is this is because a certain country that sits above the US wrote this...LMAO

12/12/2008 6:22:18 PM

This is a true story from summer of 1998:

I had a summer internship at UVA in Charlottesville, VA. I was walking on a sidewalk along a main road off-campus (road circling part of the campus), and just feet away from me, I saw a crayfish crossing the road like it was all normal and shit, with some light traffic on the road in both directions.

I just couldn't believe what I had seen. I have only told this to one more person ever.

12/14/2008 5:31:50 AM