A Naif in the Forest by Darrell Berger

Wing Tips to Hiking Boots: Musings of a New, Full-Time Poconos Resident

Look closely at this photograph. Note the crayfish, crawfish, crawdad, freshwater lobster, mudbug or yabbie. Whatever they are called, a large number of creatures find them delicious. 

Last week I featured a bald eagle, an apex predator centered in a bold, colorful photograph. This week we find an animal one might call omega prey. When my wife, Kathleen, approached this creature and took this photograph, she was impressed by its utter stillness and near invisibility. This is what you have to do to survive when everybody wants to eat you or use you for bait. Crayfish are found in many colors. The colors are always those of the surrounding environment. As Marisa Tomei said of the Joe Pesci character in My Cousin Vinny: “Yeah, you blend,” referring to the brash yankee’s attempt to appear southern. She was being sarcastic. Crayfish blend very well. 

It is the state crustacean of Louisiana. Only six states have their designated crustacean, Pennsylvania not among them.  Louisiana exports a hundred million pounds of crayfish per year. It has been a part of Cajun culture for centuries. The crayfish iconography in Louisiana, on tee shirts, tchotchkes and logos, is as ubiquitous as the Nittany Lion is locally. China recently supplanted Louisiana as the biggest crayfish exporter. I don’t know if China has a national crustacean. 

Crayfish are intolerant of human pollutants. Their presence in our creek indicates a healthy habitat. There are a few invasive species. The rusty crawfish has caused problems in several areas in North America, including the Susquehanna River. These invaders eat anything and reproduce prodigiously, driving out or killing many kinds of plants and animals, destroying an ecosystem’s healthy diversity. 

This particular crayfish just wants to be left alone to be quiet in our creek and not be used as bait, or be mistaken for a relative that looks similarly and destroys habitats.  As a consequence, crayfish watching has not caught on. There are no crayfish watchers’ clubs, despite their various species and colors. Kathleen took the photo and left the crayfish to its stillness.