Crayfish...Not just in the Boondocks.

Care to insert some tunes for your read? 

Little Big Town mentions Crayfish in their song, Boondocks! 

During a recent sunny afternoon, the kids and I decided to go crawdad/crayfish catching. I believe their fun Uncle Nathan and his brother taught them how to find them a year or two back. Since then we have gone out on the Washougal River three or four times. It is a fun time in the sun and sure beats the kids playing X-Box!

One year, the older kids and their friends brought several home and cooked ‘em up in boiling water and ate ‘em up like mini lobsters. This year, however, we just caught them for the sport of it and then released them again.

Our kids and some friends (ages 4 to 15) had fun, even those terrified of being in the water with anything that could “get them” had a blast searching and pointing to where they saw one, like hunters cornering their prey.

Caleb releasing the crayfish back into the water.

Thank you Dan for taking pictures with your phone.

FUN FACTS: 

• Crayfish are farmed and are quite a lucrative business for many farmers across the nation.
• There are over 300 species of freshwater crayfish in the USA with different colors, sizes and temperaments
• Crayfish, when farmed are fed natural sources of food such as hay, grass and other vegetation.  They are also fed processed feed such as crayfish feed, sinking fish food, pellets and even dog food.
• Some crayfish, in the right living conditions, can grow to be as long as a dollar bill or larger!

picture and information source

Items needed for your Crayfish fun: sunblock, sunglasses and/or hat, swimsuit (you will get wet—the rocks can be slippery), a container such as a small cooler (emptied and filled with a few inches of the river water) to hold your catch, watersocks or sandals with a strap in the back (flip flops don’t work well) and a camera to record the fun.

Our favorite location: park at the Washougal skate park (old bowling alley) and follow the trail to the boat launch.

Have you come across any favorite free places to visit in the great NW, lately?

-Dr. Marc