Rensselaer Republican, Volume 24, Number 42, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 16 June 1892 — CRAWFISH AND THEIR HABITS. [ARTICLE]

CRAWFISH AND THEIR HABITS.

How They Kill Their Prey—Raising Them for Market in Europe. » “There is nothing so fatal to crawfish as a thunderstorm,” said a fishdealer to a Washington Star writer. “When I ntake a shipment of them to any place at b distance I always make sure that the weather promises well. On more than one occasion I have had entire consignments killed on a journey by a small electrical disturbance. Another thing I have to look out for is that the crawfish shall be so tightly packed as not to be able to turn upon their backs. If they do so they work their feet until exhausted and die: =r=

“The worst enemies crawfish have are eels, whose favorite food is-one-year-old crawfish. Bigger ones seem very rarely to be eaten by the eels. If you want plenty of crawfish in a stream you must catch alt the eels. The crawfish themselves are very voracious As soon as dusk sets in each evening they become lively and move about with great dgilitv. They swim well and have very keen sight. When the crawfish has spied its prey it steals up and with one bold dash impales the little fish or frog on its “tusk” as the Jong horn between its eyes is called. Then It drops to the bottom and devours the victim. — : ——

“There are plenty of crawfish about Washington, in the Potomac and its tributary streams. In the spring they come to market in great numbers. The female stays in her hole while the young are hatching from the- eggs. On an average each one has from 150 to 200 eggs. The young look like small worms and remain for some time attached by strong threads to the mother’s tail, being thus protected from fishes and other enemies. One year old the}’ are a& large as rs wasp, but they grow slowly, and three or four years pass before they get to be as big as four inches. By the time they are eight years old they have reached full size. 1 “In Europe, I am told, fishermen gather crawfish by the aid of torches. Ip summer the animals seek the shallows where tho bottom is clear, and those who hunt for them do so at night with flaming pine knots. This method is called ‘lighting.’ The crawfish are dazzled by the Might, and do not attempt to escape, so that they can be easily captured with the hands. One person will often take a thousand in a night. Crawfish are much cultivated abroad in ponds and iuclosures of water. No artificial means are resorted to for their propagation, but eels and predatory fishes are caught and removed. Thus they are given a chance •to multiply, and they are fed upon fresh meat to fatten them for market. The industry is very profitable.” /