Some time last year, during one of our swimming-at-the-creek excursions, Georgie caught a yabbie crossing the causeway. It was terribly exciting at the time, we put it in a container in the back of the car and continued swimming. It escaped, we found it again and this time put a lid on it, took it home and put it in the horse trough in the back paddock.
After inspecting the trough a few days later, no yabbie could be sighted so we assumed it had died, swum out or a bird had eaten it.
Fast forward to a couple of days ago, when I was inspecting the trough, for a bit of a head count on the little guppies I had released there before Christmas. The water was crystal clear and the little fishies were swimming happily, when I noticed something a little odd at the bottom of the trough.
I found a stick, poked about in the bottom (which is quite silty and easily disturbed) and from the gloom of the mucked up water appeared one very LARGE yabby!
I was very excited. Rang The Husband. I could hear him rolling his eyes through the phone. His excitement levels were less. Non the less, the family trooped over that afternoon with our specialised yabbie catching equipment - a stick, a colander, and a bucket, to have a closer look at the crustacean.
I may just have to see if we can catch some more to keep him company. The Husband tells me that they won't eat my little fishes which are too fast for a yabbie to catch, so I hope that is true!
And yes, it truly is a zoo around here most days....
He wouldn't last long here - we would have eaten him!
ReplyDeleteAs an avid seafood lover, I'd have to say I wouldn't give you the time of day for a yabbie (or crawchie as I've always known them). I'll leave the crawchies for Amy and dive for the banana prawns and mud crab.
ReplyDeleteGood to know he's a survivor though. We had loads of fun as kids dangling a piece of meat on a length of string into a muddy waterhole. Mum's colander always came too.
Can picture husband's enthusiasm at your great find. Nearly as excited as mine when I rang him today to tell him the mower STILL isn't working.
we put 2 yabbies into our outdoor fish pond & they ran away straight away, something about not living in an environment with a concrete bottom, we would never have eaten them!
ReplyDeleteThat would scare the living daylights out of me....I think he has definately got a healthy appetite...great capturing all your crazy wildlife in pictures....you'll have to do a 365 day of wildlife next year Sharon!!!.... come on, easy, you can include some of your rug rats if you run out of the 4 legged ones every now and then, we won't tell!!....
ReplyDeleteI had to look up Yabby, while we have other kinds of Crayfish in the US -- we don't have quite those (but we do eat them... mmmmmmmmmm or at least those of us from "the South" do)
ReplyDeleteThat Fiona just has snobby tastes. I'm with Amy, yabbies go well in my tucker bag - delish.
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