I am thinking of stocking crawfish for my bass. I have a 1 acre pond about 12-14 feet in the middle with some trees around the banks and some tractor tires. I've always heard locally that crawfish would burrow holes through the damn and cause it to leak or even eventually bust. Anybody heard of this or know it to be true???? I have done searches on crawfish and have not saw anybody else mention this. Thanks for any help.

Keven,

Both my ponds are excavated as opposed to embankments so I cannot address the issue of whether or not crawfish will burrow through a dam but I'll pass along my experiences with crawfish. Most of the crawfish I see in my one pond make their burrows on land within 6-8 inches of shore. I've never really measured the depth of the hole but I suspect its not more than 6-7 inches deep in addition, there is a mud mound 3-4 inches tall, which is created by the spoils from burrowing. I would guess they burrow enough to hit moist soil. I don't see what benefit there would be for them to burrow further.

Given that most dam thickness is measured in feet, I suspect crawfish would not be a threat to the integrity of a dam. Hopefully some other members will sign in with their opinion.

Russ

Since were on crawfish again . I have heard that while in transport you have to keep the gills from drying out or they will die . Fact or Fiction . any one know ?

Harvey

Keven , Can't help with your Dam question .

Sorry I changed the subject on you .

Harvey

It's ok. no prob. I dont see why a crawfish would burrow all the way through a dam either.

Look on the internet and get in touch with Louisiana crawfish farmers. I've E-mailed them before and they have been very helpful. Harvey, I have transported mud bugs short distances without water and have had no problem. However, it only makes sense to keep their gills wet. I did recently talk to some La. farmers that told me not to bother trying to stock the ones I get from the grocery store. They are alive enough to cook but not enough to really stay alive. As one of them put it, they are alive and edible but pretty close to dying.

Being from Louisiana I've handled more than my share of crawfish. Don't give the burrowing through the dam a second thought. Crawfish burrow down just to the water table normally. They spend about 75% of their life in these burrows filter feeding and exit usually to mate or if the water table moves up or down. Transporting crawfish is easy..............just keep them cool out of the sun/wind and covered with a damp cloth. Do not crowd the together in water or else they'll depete the oxygen in the water and die. Also you might consider loading them into an onion sack and tying them up tightly or else they tend to attact each other.

Dave ,

I have resisted the grocery store mud bugs , but did buy some from a farm in East Tx. They were in sacks and I transported them in igloo coolers . they stayed moist but when i turned them loose they went everywhere but in the water . Wonder if the gills had dried out ?

Got tired of pointing them toward the water and the next morning found that the coons had a fiest .

No live mud bugs have been seen since .

Don't think i will try that again ! Harvey

Harvey, I had the same situation. I let them warm up, put them in the water and went away for 4 days. When I came back, it looked like they committed suicide by coon.