Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1886-12-13
THE CRAwFIsH.
Curious Ways of the Fish American People
Are Slow to Accept as Food.

There is no fish that grows so slowly
as the common crawfish," said a pisci-
culturist who has been trying the ex-
pertinent of artificial propagation of that
fish, ''and none that has so many
curious characteristics. A female craw
matches on an average $50 eggs. The
eggs are fastened TO her on the under
side of her tail, and when the fry are
Matched they look like tiny worms
Each young one is attached TO its
mothers tail by fine thread, and IS
protected there for several weeks. At
the age of year a crawfish is not more
than an inch in length, and it must be
four years old before any edible use can
be made of it Then it is big enough
for use in soup which epicures allege
is very delicate dish. The crawfish is
not marketable as table fish under
eight years of age, when it is four or
i've inches in length. 1t changes its
shell every year. the male in June and
the female in July. 1t is during their
shedding season that they fall victims
to bass and other enemies, being then
entirely helpless and most tender
morsel. The young are born in May,
the female remaining in hole in the
bank of the stream until the eggs are
Matched. While the female prefers q
solitary life. the male crawfish is a gen.
uine socialist, and large numbers of
them live together in holes higher up
the bank than the home of the female.
Eels are the most destructive enemy of
the crawfish, and in rivers or streams
where the latter are plenty cells are un-
known. The most prolific crawfish
water in this country is probably the
Miami river. in Ohio, and no one ever
saw an eel there. Striped bass are
plenty, and while they grow fat on the
shedder crawfish, they do not seem to
be able to decrease their numbers.
"Crawfish are themselves voracious
feeders. They hunt their prey at night.
They swim we'll, and their sense of
sight is very keen. When they eye their
prey they sneak upon it with great
stealth, and when within yard or so
of it make quick, bold dash, and i'm
pale the minnow on the sharp protuber-
ance forming the extremity of the head.
The prey secured, the crawfish sinks to
the bottom and devours it, holding and
tearing it with its two strong claws.
Rubelins. the great German piscicul-
turist, says that the crawfish will not
eat putrid meat, but l have found that
it is no more particular as to its diet in
that respect than its cousin, the lobster,
is, and the lobster will eat anything.
The crawfish has not been accepted
as a good fish in this country except
with few persons of epicurean tastes,
but in Germany and other European
countries it has long been a favorite
food. In fact, the demand for crawfish
in Germany has increased so that the
artificial propagation of the fish is car
ried on with considerable profit, and the
catching of wild crawfish is one of the
most remunerative callings of the fisher
men. They fish for them in the Oder,
Obra, and Eilang rivers with peculiar
nets, and the catching of crawfsh by
the method known as lighting is also
favorite way with the German fisher
men. During the summer months the
fish seek shallow places in the water
where the bottom is smooth and gravel
ly. The fishermen wade in the water
carrying bright torches of pine wood.
The light reveals the crawfish lying on
the bottom, and seems to daze them SO
that they can be lifted out of the water
with the hands. A single fisherman
has been known TO catch as many as
thousand crawfish in one nights fishing
in this way.-M. Y. Mail and Express.