The Van Buren press., 1898-08-20
THE CURIOUS CRAWFISH.
A Crustacean Highly Esteemed ms u
Food by Germans and BASS
How 1t Is Caught.

much appreciated in this country as
food said Fulton Market fish dealer,
although among Il small circle of epi-
cures here it is alleged to be highly
priced. In some European countries,
and especially in northern Germany,
the crawfish as an edible crustacean is
in such demand that it is largely grown
by artificial propagation.
The crawfsh is in many respects GU
rious creature. 1t is so tardy in reach
ing maturity that il requires from 12
to Is years to attain its growth, which
is between three and five inches. The
male erawfish live in colonies in holes in
the river or creek banks, and the fe-
male, especially while waiting for her
eggs to hatch, prefers to live by her
self. The crawfish hunts its prey at
night, and begins the quest as coon as
iusk sets in. Crawfish are never found
in any numbers and never of mature
size in water inhabited by eels or pick
orel. The eel is its greatest enemy and
destroyer. The crawfsh sheds its shell
every year, the male in June and the fe-
male in July They are then the most
tender and delicate of creatures and
especially priced as bait for bass. The
most prolific water for crawfish | ever
knew is the Miami river in Ohio. There
are no eels or pickerel in that
stream, but it is noted for a
choice variety of bass. These bass
ea1lap, oly 10;
the soft crawfish. For other fish
the tail of the hard craw, as the natives
call it, with the shell peeled from the
hard, white, sweet flesh, is killing bait
| If the angler can get it within reach Of
the fish he is hoping to catch before it
is seized by some living crawtish.
"If fisherman is ever after crawfish
| for bait he has only to let down a piece
of pork or beef or any other kind of
flesh. or even piece of potato or tur-
| nip, tied to string. In moment every
craw that can get hold of it with its
claws will quickly do so. If the string
is pulled up slowly and steadily not
craw will let loose of the bait until it
is landed on the bark or in the boat.
| The fisherman wrenches the tail from
| the body and casts the latter away.
SO tenacious of life are the crawfsh
that it is a common sight to see scores
of these mutilated bodies crawling
about the river banks and returning to
the water, where they will live for
| hours. The craws that are captured in
this way are hard shells. The soft
shells are so delicate that it would not
be possible for them to cling with their
claws to anything. They are caught bv
turning over stones On the bottom of
the river. where they hide during the
season in which they are shedders.
Anglers who want them for bait are not
the only foes that invade the hiding
places of the soft-shelled crawfish.
Bass constantly hunt them, turning
over the stones to uncover them with
as much skill as the angler can. That
such enormous quantities of crawfish
survive the shedding season in the Mi
ami river is one of the wonders of pis-
catorial life.
although the crawfish will survive
for hours, and sometimes a day or more,
the mutilation to which fishermen sub
icct them. it will soon die if laid on its
back and kept there If placed in that
position IT itworks violently with its rows
of feet and its claws, which seems TO
soon exhaust it and cause its death
The crawfish will live for week or
more out of water if kept in cool
moist place. Those Europeans who con-
slider this crustacean a delicacv have a
superstition that they are not good in
the months containing the letter "R
unlike the belief in this country that
oysters are only good in such months
1t is declared to be a fact by growers
and shippers of crawfish that if a thun-
derstorm arises while they are in transit
they Will die instantly."-N. Y. Sun,
| ha