Suddestions for Crayfish Study 



]\Iargaret W. Taggart. 



The fact that so many children are missing their rightful 

 heritage of a speaking acquaintance with the common forms of 

 life about us was emphasized not long ago in a way both amus- 

 ing and pathetic. As I was coming back froni a collecting trip, 

 some children noticed and exclaimed at my net. I stopped and 

 asked them if they would like to see what had been found in 

 the water that cold day. They crowded about eagerly as I 

 held out a bottle with some ordinary brook crayfish in it. 



"Who knows what they are?" 



"Minnows," came the answer without hesitation. Evidently 

 a minnow was anything that lived in the water. 



"Worms ?" 



Nobody knew. Finally, after an extended examination, one 

 ten-year-old volunteered, "Grasshoppers — they have so many 

 legs." And in my mind's eye I saw a budding systematist. 



As has been said so often before, it is a crying shame for 

 children to miss the experience of a bare-foot encounter with a 

 crayfish and all the free out-door life that it symbolizes. 



For practical collecting purposes one may distinguish three 

 kinds of crayfish — burrowing species, those that live in streams 

 with muddy bottoms, and the species that are found in clear 

 gravelly streams. 



The burrowing species erect their chimneys near streams or 

 in swamps. They are always found near open water but never 

 in it. They may be found near springs where they can reach 

 the water underground. These burrowing species are not so easy 

 to collect as the others even when the chimneys are very plenti- 

 ful. A shovel is all that is necessary in the way of apparatus. 



The crayfish living in streams or shallow ponds with muddy 

 bottoms are usually plentiful and easy to collect, although small in 

 size as a rule. With an ordinary net or even a long handled 

 dipper, I have caught quantities of little ones in an open drainage 

 ditch one could step across. They are usually found in the vege- 

 tation along the edge of the ditch and are accessible all the year 

 around, even when the ice has to be broken to reach the water. 

 These are the best specimens for observation on moulting, ns 

 they are hardy and young, moulting frequently. 



If, however, the nearest stream has a fairly strong current 



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