Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Crayfish Hunting

Our group has recently learned that crayfish have been introduced to our region and are causing problems in the ecosystem.  The light grey parts on the map below indicate the areas where crayfish occur naturally.  The dark grey states are places where crayfish have been introduced by humans and are a problem for the habitat.


In the Topanga area, crayfish have been brought in by people hoping to have them reproduce so they can be used as bait in fishing.  The population has gotten out of control and the crayfish are eating the frogs and other wildlife.  Scientists are experimenting with removing all the crayfish from a small location in a stream in Topanga and will see if this allows the other wildlife to replenish itself.  If this works, they will begin removing crayfish from the rest of the stream as well.


Crayfish love hotdogs!  We wrapped a bunch of hot dog pieces to string.  The crayfish would start to nibble on the hot dog and then we would scoop them up with a net.  The crayfish are then sent to a local wildlife rescue to feed bobcats and other injured and recovering wildlife that eat crayfish. 












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