Crayfish, also known as crawfish, freshwater lobster, mud bugs, freshwater crab, crawdad and several other names depending on where you are in the United States, have become a major nuisance in certain regions of the country. There are over 300 species in our country; several species are raised specifically to be eaten. However, as people have relocated populations close to streams, rivers, ponds and lakes, crayfish problems have developed. This article will explain why crayfish can become a problem and then offer control measures to help reduce damage and populations which are too large.

CRAYFISH BIOLOGY ^

Crayfish are natural food for many animals including snakes, mink, otter, raccoon, birds and many species of fish. Property owners will plant crayfish in ponds and lakes in an attempt to feed their private fish stock. Given the chance, these initial populations will bloom uncontrollably and if given the chance, can actually reduce fish breeding as well as lead to damage of important lake shore.

HOW CAN CRAYFISH DAMAGE PRIVATE LAND AND WATER? ^

Crayfish cause damage property several ways. First, they eat a lot. They love fish eggs and fry and seek such food supplies when available. Their tenacious diet will prevent local fish populations from developing properly. Be careful when trying to use crayfish as a main food supply hoping to feed fish which will grow unusually large because of the abundance of crayfish. In the end, a large population of crayfish may lead to decreasing the amount of fish you’re trying to grow.

The second way crayfish cause problems is with their burrowing. This can occur two ways. Initially, most species will burrow out onto the water shore and emerge a few feet up on dry land. Their burrows serve as a way they can retreat from the water as well as to provide shelter. This happens all the time where crayfish are present; most of this is never noticed by land owners.

However, as populations of crayfish increase, their burrowing will reach further and further out into turf areas. Overcrowding will cause them to leave the water to nest. Basically they’ll be walking out past existing burrows to dig new ones further and further away from water. This digging will occur mostly at night and generally leads to turf damage in two ways.

Crayfish burrows will be killing plants and shrubs as they dig. Additionally, their burrows are unsightly. Some people refer to them as “chimneys” or “crayfish castles”. Regardless these “castles” are not attractive in the yard.

Another type of damage which stems from these burrows is caused from predatory animals which will dig looking for food. Raccoon, skunk and armadillo will regularly dig into turf causing even more of a mess as well as additional damage. Remember, humans are not the only animal which enjoy a good crayfish meal.

In summary, crayfish can rapidly multiply leading to populations which the local water environment may not be able to sustain. To keep these numbers in check, there are two things you can do.

 

NET TRAP CRAYFISH ^

If you have a lot of water on your property and need to remove a lot of crayfish rapidly, use some CRAYFISH NET TRAPS. These are relatively inexpensive and very effective at catching a lot of crayfish quickly. Set them out along shore lines with twine leads for quick removal. Feeding crayfish are easy to catch and will readily come onto these offerings. But in heavily populated waterways, you only have to set the trap in the water and within hours these nets could have several on top ready to be removed.

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CRAYFISH SPRAY REPELLENT ^

If you don’t want to kill the crayfish or if you only have a few areas with activity, apply PEST RID GRANULES and PEST RID SPRAY to their castles and the surrounding turf. This food based repellent won’t kill them or any other animal or insect. But crayfish won’t like its “taste” and once the spray saturates the soil, they’ll move away.

For best results, level or remove large castles. Next, apply 1 lb of granules for every 250 sq/ft of area. 1 jug is 2 lbs and can treat up to 500 sq/ft. Renew the granules once a month to keep them away.

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Immediately after applying the granules, spray over the top with the PEST RID SPRAY. This is essentially the liquid form of the granules and will motivate the crayfish as you spray. 1 quart will cover up to 125 sq/ft and like the granules, should last up to 30 days.

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Now keep in mind this is just a repellent so there is a chance they may relocate to another area in the yard. And if this starts to happen, simply treat the entire area with the granules once a month and spray over the top of any burrows you see developing to keep them away throughout their active season.

CRAYFISH GAS REPELLENT ^

If you have crayfish castles appearing in dry areas or above a nearby water supply such as a pond or retaining ditch, gassing them with GIANT DESTROYERS will render their tunnels unusable. This sulfur based repellent will actually kill crawyfish if they don’t leave. But if they avoid the gas and escape, the sulfur will coat their tunnels rendering them unusable.

Gassing is effective for large areas littered with crayfish because you can many times treat several burrows with one just one gasser. This will happen because the gas can travel 10-25 feet and often times many tunnels are linked. This means one gas stick applied to an active burrow can effectively fumigate 3-5.

To see this happen, carefully watch all nearby burrows to see if you notice smoke releasing from their top.

To gas a burrow, you’ll need to remove the castle and then drop a lighted gas stick down the tunnel. Place the castle over the hole for at least 10 minutes to ensure the smoke locks into the soil.

Plan on using one stick per burrow but remember it could end up treating 3-5 depending on the spread of the underground tunnels.

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CRAYFISH SOUND REPELLER ^

After you gas their burrows, install our SOLAR POWERED SOUND REPELLER for a permanent solution. This design is one of kind and not available elsewhere. True, there are models which look like ours but they don’t have all the features our units have which are important for certain pests like crayfish.

This device uses the sun to charge an on board battery so it runs on its own power around the clock.

Once installed and powered on, it will release different sounds including rattles and vibrations that will both move the ground and create a sound wave crayfish don’t like. By default, they vibrate several times a minute and they change their cycle.

In addition to sound, they use small white LED bulbs located on underside of controller head. These light up when its dark which effectively tell you the units are working. When placed close to active crayfish, they will become uncomfortable.

Coverage for these units when used on crayfish is about 4,000-5,000 sq/ft on damp land. On hard pan, you can get 6,500 to 7,500 sq/ft per unit.

Installing Ground Sound Repellers should be done after you treat active burrows with either Pest Rid or Giant Destroyers. Plan on getting them charged for two days before installing them to ensure their battery is fully charged.

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DO NOT force these into the ground; use a good SOIL AUGER to drill the proper sized holes.

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CONTACT US ^

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