I am a new pond owner and I have noticed at least 100-150 2 inch holes surrounding my 1-1.25 acre pond. It is annoying to say the least. Its hard to get a secure footing to walk around my pond. In investigating I have found that the opinion is that crawdads are good unless burrowing into a dam. I can see about 20 foot up the bank where the old water line used to be. Its all grass now, but you can absolutely see the old bank line. Holes from there to the current water line. I just don't want them causing anymore damage.....how do you control them, and whats the best method? I'll post pictures soon as to identify.
Those are some big holes for crawfish! Do you have LMB in your pond? I think they would do a lot of control assuming they are the correct size to eat those lobster size crawfish
Yeah that does seem pretty dang big? I have crawfish and I might have holes the size of my thumb or smaller??? I wanna see one of them bad boys!! Throw a smoke bomb down the hole see what comes out!
Just be ready in case its a big ole snake!!
RC
Drop a line that is tied to a piece of liver and see if they grab on. If they do, slowly pull them up. I'd like to see the size of one of 'em too!
Or the old standby; a piece of bacon. On second thought, use the liver. It isn't fit to eat anyway.
For real DON'T waste bacon on them!!!
RC
If those do turn out to be crayfish the next step would be to find a Geiger counter and check the water. That's got to be a snake or turtle or something those are some big holes.
It'll be like Caddy Shack.....here gopher, gopher, gopher..:)
There are like a 150 holes so I'll try some of them and see what pops out....with my gun barrel pointing at it.
Whatever it is, you got my curiosity peeked. Pictures of unseen creature are now a must my friend!
Set that Trail camera reeeal low
Any chance they could be from frogs or toads?
Terrestrial crayfish usually roll the mud up in little balls and construct a short chimney(but not always) above their hole. I have seen turtles attempting to nest that dig holes similar to those you picture. It would be unusual to see a hundred of them though. The female slider sometimes will try a few times before she settles on what she likes and finally lays her eggs. I think that it is a natural attempt to fool nest robbers ( coons, coyotes, skunks, etc) by leaving many false areas to confuse them.
Tom Sterling (Shelby County )
The holes look similar to the painted turtle holes in the newest PondBoss mag.
I have tried trapping them with no luck. The land I have purchased has two ponds about equal size. (1 Acre) One has the drainage issues shown, the other not so much. The one with drainage issues I have tried trapping the CF and the muck swallows half of my trap. So far the only thing Ive caught in them is two baby BG. My neighbor has a similar crayfish issue. He has lost a foot and half of earth on his dam from burrowing crayfish and having their horizontal burrows collapse. HE used to be able to swim in his pond, his ladder is now out of water and the pond is only 6 ft deep. I have walked my property and seems that they are everywhere coming from a near by creek, my neighbor says. He can shoot 20-30 a night with a 22 and a helmet light at night. He claims he has seen some approaching 8 inches long and pinchers big enough to really hurt someone.
How does someone get rid of an infestation? I feel even if I rebuild the dam those things will just come right back.
Maybe you could put the trap near the holes out of the water instead of in the water. Use something really stinky and nasty for bait in the trap. Like a dead smelly fish carcass.
Just giving you ideas. I've never tried trapping them out of water.
I'd pour about a cup of gas down a few hole and set them on fire. The fires won't burn too long, and you can easily control the fires of 10-12 holes at a time.
I have the same problem here. I am going to pump down one of my Trout pools soon and will take pictures. Riddled, they are everywhere. I catch and put in a holding pen I made with fine mesh wire and pvc.I keep until enough for a good meal, fresh water Lobster. At least I get the pleasure of eating them and they are good. They do make a mess and native here too.
I had issues with them one year and it seemed to peak and has never been problem since.
SMB and LMB will make quick work of them if they are present in your pond.
Can you clarify: Are you finding new holes on dry land?
Or are these just leftover from when the water was up?
Looks like armadillo diggin' to me. Game camera would verify. I would say the gasoline in a hole would work, but leftover fuel leaking into the pond could easily kill other unintended critters, fish too.
Do us a favor, if you will, if you catch a 8" crawdad please take a picture with a Ruler behind it. They taste good too but I have only eaten less than 5 or so in my 58 yrs. 100's of pound of 3" to 5" and now my mouth is water'n and no crawdads.
My family has been crayfish farming for the last 30 years in LA. The way farmers seed their ponds is to drop the water level, then count the holes that the crayfish dig. They estimate each hole will produce ~400 crayfish offspring. Multiply the number of holes x 400 to calculate the yoy/acre desired for next year. With that said, when the ponds are flooded in the spring, they come out of the ground. If they ARE crayfish holes, I would shove a large pc of PVC or pipe in the ground over the hole and fill it up with water until the hole will take no more. This will cause the crayfish (or what ever it is) to come up.
Nathan, I am finding them everywhere. Both up the bank and at waters edge. The waters edge are fresh and I have marked the waters edge with a stick. I'm losing about 3 inches of bank a week. I'll try all methods listed to see if I can find one of those buggers. Pics to come soon I hope.
If you can't fill them up with water you may have muskrats.
I'd like to see an 8" crayfish too!
Instead of gasoline, I'd try some hydrated lime in the hole. Might change the pH enough to make it uncomfortable or unlivable to them.
I've heard a tablespoon of Lye in the hole will kill them. I'll try it and see if it works.
