Crayfish, crawfish, or crawdads - this one seems to have a nest
7/15/09
"You get a line and I'll get a pole,
We're all goin' down to the crawdad hole..."
Crayfish, crawfish, or crawdads - call them what you like - are fresh water decapod crustaceans like little lobsters. Tasty too! I went to the river today and noticed this critter as I was wading in one of the few places that still has water in this drought year. It seemed to have a nest, which it promptly backed into. (Paradise, Santa Ynez River, 15 July 2009)
It has remarkable eyes, visible near the bottom of the photo. There is a glimmer of recognition and intelligence there!