100 
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES 
Pearse (1910) states that they furnish food for many turtles and snakes as 
well as other animals. I have examined the stomachs of a number of snakes that 
are frequenters of streams ( Tropidonatus sipedon fasciatus, Thamnopis radix, and 
T. elegans) and have found no trace of crayfish remains. Ortmann (1906, p. 495) 
has seen Natrix leberis disgorge 0. obscurus when captured. He also quotes Prof. 
H. A. Surface as the authority for the statement that Cryptobranchus allegJiensis 
and Necturus feed upon crayfish. I have found the carapaces of freshly killed 
crayfishes (C. immunis) on the banks of a small stream west of Lincoln in the 
early morning, and many tracks of a raccoon (probably Procyon lotor ) . It is evident 
that this night-feeding animal feeds on the crayfishes as well as upon the mussels 
that are found in the same community. I have not examined the stomachs of 
wading birds, but undoubtedly they catch many of the young crayfishes as they 
swim in schools in the shallow water during the evening and morning hours. 
Owing to their great numbers and the large size reached by Cambarus immunis, 
C. diogenes, and C. virilis, there is a great deal of potential food in the ponds and 
streams which is not utilized. I have heard of no one who has eaten them in these 
two States, but there is no good reason for not doing so, since they are so highly 
esteemed in other localities, especially in the southern United States. 
The crayfishes of Wisconsin have been of some slight importance, according to 
R. S. Scheibel, assistant commissioner of conservation, who says: 1 "They are 
gathered mostly around the waters adjacent to Green Bay, and in Wisconsin were 
used almost entirely for free lunches in saloons. Since prohibition has been in 
effect the crayfish business has dropped off considerably, the last report showing that 
only approximately 400,000 pounds were caught and sold.” 
Speaking of another genus of this family — the genus Astacus — Carl D. Shoe- 
maker, master fish warden of the State of Oregon, says: 2 "We issue in the neigh- 
borhood of three dozen crayfish licenses a year. * * * I know that in the 
neighborhood of 100,000 dozen are taken annually in our waters. These are sold to 
restaurants and hotels, and are kept in live boxes, where they are held and fed until 
served. The industry is not a very profitable one, as the price paid per dozen is 
small. Those who engage in the taking of these crayfish make a poor living and 
ha^e to augment their income from other sources.” 
The abdomen of the crayfish is also used extensively for bait by fishermen, but 
the animals are usually caught alive for each trip and are of no great importance 
commercially. 
Fisher (1912) suggests that if boiled wfith meal and allowed to dry, crayfish 
make an extremely valuable egg-producing food for poultry. 
As an item of negative economic importance the crayfish has received slight 
attention. In some of the lower areas of the eastern part of the State the meadows 
along the streams and surrounding the ponds may be infested with the burrowing 
forms O. diogenes and C. immunis, especially the latter. A certain though negligible 
amount of grass may be destroyed, and the mounds may interfere with the mowing 
operations, but farmers who were questioned did not seem to regard them as a 
nuisance. In the Southern States crayfishes were at one time a very great pest, 
: From personal letter, Aug. 20, 1923. 
! From personal letter, Aug. 29, 1923. 
