Strange Wildlife On The Trail (Crayfish & Tarantula Hawk)

[BrewMaster]

Linda and I went out for a quick ride in CHSP from our house to Green River and back. On the Lower Aliso fire road we ran across a bunch of dead crayfish strewn across the trail. I had seen this twice before and always in the same general area. WTF? How are crayfish getting on this trail? And they were being swarmed by bees and flies. This was one of the strangest things to encounter.







On our way out of the park we saw at least a dozen tarantulas. Then we got a treat by running into a tarantula hawk in the process of removing a tarantula. This made Linda happy since she hates spiders.





And video of this bad boy in action:

[slapfan1]

Maybe some one dumped it.

[lukewiens]

those T hawks are no joke....sometimes they fly around the winery during crush. i guess it is supposed to be one of the most painful insect stings out there.

watch out!

[dirtmistress]

That was way cool! Thanks!
But the crayfish is eerie. Kind of horror movie-out-of-place stuff.
Like piles of teeth and sticks and Blair Witch kind of stuff!

[BrewMaster]

Originally Posted by slapfan1

Maybe some one dumped it.

That's what I figure, but why crayfish and why in the same area a few times? It just seems so random that it can't be random...

[Dusty]

Freeky

[jeffj]

I have been seeing T-Hawks pretty regularly the last week or so , but I also think the crayfish deal is a bit suspicious. They don't generally have any reason to venture away from water like that too often.

I know that they are gathered locally and sold for fish bait. I know people that used to do that (they got many of theirs from Coyote Creek in La Mirada) and sell them to bait shops. With the price of fuel, it's more co$t effective to do your crayfish collecting close to home.

[Chewyeti]

dude... very weird


eeery actually

[station]

That's so strange. Is there fishing near by? Looks like someone is dumping unused bait?

[OTHRIDER]

RE: American Midland Naturalist, Vol. 97, No.2

....In autumn, with decreases in both water temperature and daily solar radiation, the adult population of crayfish migrate into deeper waters. It is supposed that this migration is an adaptation of the species to avoid winter storms that cause high rates of mortality among members of the population remaining in the shallow water..........

Without traditional "deeper waters" or nearby lakes/lagoons, the crayfish strike out in search of safer waters. There is a VERY nice hike in Carbon Canyon Regional Park up to a small redwood mini-forest. Right around this time of the year, the frogs start a mass migration to who knows where. I've witnessed it at least four times.

The same migration occurs behind the shopping area near Beach Blvd. and Imperial Hwy. There is a rock lined storm drain that has easy access. We used to catch the crayfish for fishing bait years ago and saw many late summer migrations.

Back to Womens' Synchronized 10M Platform Diving....

[RustyIron]

Whoa! I've never seen one of those big tarantula eating bugs. You're lucky to see one in action like that.

[Chewyeti]

sam.. was it by water canyon?

where is standing water in CHSP?

[Rivet]

Originally Posted by lukewiens

those T hawks are no joke....sometimes they fly around the winery during crush. i guess it is supposed to be one of the most painful insect stings out there.

watch out!

Tarantula Hawks are badass, but also watch out for the red furry looking little ants (Velvet Ants), they are actually flightless female wasps and have a sting as bad as the Tarantula Hawk.

[newpos]

crawfish are the new pooping

[BrewMaster]

Originally Posted by Chewyeti

sam.. was it by water canyon?

where is standing water in CHSP?

No, it was on Lower Aliso near the Chino side of Elevator.

There is no water nearby. A creek has some standing water about a mile away, but nothing that I would think could have ever supported fish. There is no fishing of any kind in the park.

I thought about someone dumping bait, but I can't imagine why anyone would go to this random place to dump bait. It's at least 2 miles from the nearest parking lot.

[b-40]

thanks for this mornings dose of the heebeejeebee's

[BFloFoxRider.]

My house is on an old dried up river bed, and in the winter when it rains, we get millions of baby crayfishes the size of a pea and smaller, when they still look like shrimps. Once in awhile we see them walking around and try to catch them. I think they actually can live and dwel in the old dried up river beds, where the moisture is beneath, then they can come up when the weather is right.. Maybe something in the soil told them to surface, but it was too hot so they roasted.

[BrewMaster]

Originally Posted by b-40

thanks for this mornings dose of the heebeejeebee's

Try riding through piles of dead crayfish being swarmed by bugs. That's a major case of the heebeejeebees!