"I know how to get rid of your crawdads."

[glynndah]

A conversation with a very earnest first grader this week.

I know how to get rid of your crawdads.

Oh, really. I'm not sure I need to get rid of them, but how would you do it?

Well, Ms. Glynndah, first of all, you need really prickly pinecones. Feel around with your fingers on the ground and use the ones that stick to you. Right?

Okay, kiddo. What do you do with them?

Drop them into the crawdad holes and poke them down with a stick, but not too hard or the stick'll break and you'll have to find another stick. Pour mud into the hole until it runs over the top. Pour regular dry dirt on top of this.

Okay. Thanks. Now, go eat your lunch.

No, no. Wait. There's more. Spread grass seeds all over it and put more dirt and stuff on top of that. Drip some water on it. Slide your hand around like this (side to side motion) and you won't even be able to tell there's been a crawdad there and they can't get out ever. So, you want me to come over to your pond after school and take care of your crawdads for you?

Well, if I have any crawdads over there, and I probably do because I can hear frogs at night and there might be other critters living down there...

(nods head) Yes, you do. I seen them.

I think I'm going to wait until they get big and catch them and eat them. So I really don't need you to fill up their holes.

Oh, that's probably a good plan.

I'm glad you think so. Now, go eat your lunch.

 

[drksideofthemoon]

A conversation with a very earnest first grader this week.

I know how to get rid of your crawdads.

Oh, really. I'm not sure I need to get rid of them, but how would you do it?

Well, Ms. Glynndah, first of all, you need really prickly pinecones. Feel around with your fingers on the ground and use the ones that stick to you. Right?

Okay, kiddo. What do you do with them?

Drop them into the crawdad holes and poke them down with a stick, but not too hard or the stick'll break and you'll have to find another stick. Pour mud into the hole until it runs over the top. Pour regular dry dirt on top of this.

Okay. Thanks. Now, go eat your lunch.

No, no. Wait. There's more. Spread grass seeds all over it and put more dirt and stuff on top of that. Drip some water on it. Slide your hand around like this (side to side motion) and you won't even be able to tell there's been a crawdad there and they can't get out ever. So, you want me to come over to your pond after school and take care of your crawdads for you?

Well, if I have any crawdads over there, and I probably do because I can hear frogs at night and there might be other critters living down there...

(nods head) Yes, you do. I seen them.

I think I'm going to wait until they get big and catch them and eat them. So I really don't need you to fill up their holes.

Oh, that's probably a good plan.

I'm glad you think so. Now, go eat your lunch.

Priceless....

 

[Guest]

I like the prickly pine cone part.

 

[Jenny_Jackson]

Crawdads live in holes? When did they start this? And how do you seed grass on their holes at the bottom of the river? Me thinks this is too much like SpongeBob Square Head

 

[Goldie Munro]

What in the name of God are crawdads?

 

[Boxlicker101]

AT LAST!! A way to prevent the world from being overrun by evil crawdads!! Huzzah! Huzzah!

 

[scriptordelecto]

A conversation with a very earnest first grader this week.

I know how to get rid of your crawdads.

Oh, really. I'm not sure I need to get rid of them, but how would you do it?

Well, Ms. Glynndah, first of all, you need really prickly pinecones. Feel around with your fingers on the ground and use the ones that stick to you. Right?

Okay, kiddo. What do you do with them?

Drop them into the crawdad holes and poke them down with a stick, but not too hard or the stick'll break and you'll have to find another stick. Pour mud into the hole until it runs over the top. Pour regular dry dirt on top of this.

Okay. Thanks. Now, go eat your lunch.

No, no. Wait. There's more. Spread grass seeds all over it and put more dirt and stuff on top of that. Drip some water on it. Slide your hand around like this (side to side motion) and you won't even be able to tell there's been a crawdad there and they can't get out ever. So, you want me to come over to your pond after school and take care of your crawdads for you?

Well, if I have any crawdads over there, and I probably do because I can hear frogs at night and there might be other critters living down there...

(nods head) Yes, you do. I seen them.

I think I'm going to wait until they get big and catch them and eat them. So I really don't need you to fill up their holes.

Oh, that's probably a good plan.

I'm glad you think so. Now, go eat your lunch.

Adorable!

 

[glynndah]

What in the name of God are crawdads?

http://kaweahoaks.com/html/crawdad03opt.jpg

 

[SeaCat]

What in the name of God are crawdads?

Mudbugs, Poor Mans Lobster, a tasty treat no matter what you call them.

Think of a minature fresh water Lobster.

Cat

 

[glynndah]

I'm hoping we do have crawdads around the pond. Great eating! I'm just waiting for him to come up with a sure-fire, and quite entertaining, way to catch them.

 

[glynndah]

It rained here last night. Maybe I should go out to the pond and check on the crawdad situation.

 

[drksideofthemoon]

It rained here last night. Maybe I should go out to the pond and check on the crawdad situation.

I'll grab my cookbook....

 

[glynndah]

I think I'll have to wait until they get a little bigger. Maybe later this spring.
Steamed or boiled in a crab boil and dipped in butter always works for me.

Now I'm getting hungry and my sandwich made from last night's leftover tuna salad isn't going to cut it.

 

[drksideofthemoon]

I think I'll have to wait until they get a little bigger. Maybe later this spring.
Steamed or boiled in a crab boil and dipped in butter always works for me.

Now I'm getting hungry and my sandwich made from last night's leftover tuna salad isn't going to cut it.

Just let me know when they are ready...I know what you mean...it's slim pickin's around here as well...I got a partial bag of peanuts from the Cubbies game last night...I may have to saddle up and head on down to the feed store...

 

[oggbashan]

American invasion

The UK fresh water crayfish are being forced out of their habitats by imported American Signal crayfish that are more omnivorous eaters and can survive in denser populations than our native species.

Fifty years ago, the UK crayfish were wonderful to catch, cook and eat. The invaders don't taste quite as good but now the UK ones are protected so we can't eat them.

Og, remembering hand-caught crayfish.

 

[glynndah]

The UK fresh water crayfish are being forced out of their habitats by imported American Signal crayfish that are more omnivorous eaters and can survive in denser populations than our native species.

Fifty years ago, the UK crayfish were wonderful to catch, cook and eat. The invaders don't taste quite as good but now the UK ones are protected so we can't eat them.

Og, remembering hand-caught crayfish.

Sounds like the perfect opportunity to try out his crawdad ridding technique. It's practically your civic duty to drive those foreign usurpers from the UK's shores.

 

[Boxlicker101]

Sounds like the perfect opportunity to try out his crawdad ridding technique. It's practically your civic duty to drive those foreign usurpers from the UK's shores.

The problem is that if he kills the UK ones, he would be subject to prosecution, because they are a protected species.

 

[glynndah]

Well, he'll have to lure all of them out of their crawdad holes; set the desired ones aside for a few minutes and deposit the unwanted ones back into their holes. Then he uses the crawdad ridding technique (crt) on those. When all are eradicated by crt, he can release the UK natives back into the wild, feeling a sense of accomplishment that he has done his small part to make his corner of the world safe for his little crustacean brothers. (And then he can come back, harvest them, and eat them.)

 

[starrkers]

*Suddenly feels like going yabbying*

Yabbies are Aussie crawdads.

 

[SeaCat]

When I first moved to Cape Cod we found the ponds teaming with Crawdads. (The locals called them Crayfish and hated even the thought of them.)

My father and I would often go out with mask and snorkel hunting the critters in the shallows of the ponds. Give us ten minutes and we would fill a pillow case with these delicate morsels.

Then one day we were noticed by what we called a "Clam Gaurd". These are the local Environmental Police. They asked us what we wer doing and we told them. They informed us that this was not legal so my father asked them to show him where in the laws it was banned. They couldn't. (They couldn't understand anyone using bait for food.)

Sure enough the next year it was announced that one needed a permit to catch Crayfish, and could only do so with certain types of traps. (This of course pissed off the local fishermen.) The ordanance was quickly struck down.

Some of those same ponds are now dead, with no life in them because of polution. Other ponds are still loaded but I wouldn't eat anything out of them.

Oh and the way we would cook them? Snap the tails off, keeping the heads for either use in the garden or as bait or even to be dumped back into the ponds as food for the fish there. Fill a pot with water. Add Salt, Minced Garlic, shredded Onion and several types of crushed Peppers. Bring to a boil and dump the tails in. Serve with sweet Cream Butter.

Cat

 

[MagicaPractica]

I'm hoping we do have crawdads around the pond. Great eating! I'm just waiting for him to come up with a sure-fire, and quite entertaining, way to catch them.

*nods* Be sure to ask him for a recipe. I'm sure he knows how to fix them the right way.

 

[glynndah]

During law school we frequently seined the local drainage ditches and farm ponds for crawdads. Most people were appalled that we were eating bait.

 

[Xelebes]

The closest we get here is lobster.

 

[oggbashan]

The problem is that if he kills the UK ones, he would be subject to prosecution, because they are a protected species.

I used to catch them by hand in fast flowing hill streams. The invaders are easier to spot - they are larger and more brightly coloured. The native ones are well camoflaged.

I think I'm too old to stand for hours in cold water just for a snack.

Og

PS. Edited for this: Crayfish order

Og

 

[glynndah]

I used to catch them by hand in fast flowing hill streams. The invaders are easier to spot - they are larger and more brightly coloured. The native ones are well camoflaged.

I think I'm too old to stand for hours in cold water just for a snack.

Og

PS. Edited for this: Crayfish order

Og

That's what children are for. (Catching the snack, not being the snack.)