Parkhill Prairie Crayfish » DFW Urban Wildlife

Parkhill Prairie Crayfish – By the Gazebo

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Jul 202011

I have recently discovered a third colony of what I believe are Parkhill Prairie Crayfish in one of our neighborhood’s parks.

Again, the colony consists of a number of burrows well away from a body of standing water.

This new colony is located roughly halfway between the two other colonies I have discovered, being approximately 1mi/1.6km from the first park colony, and 0.75mi/1.2km from the second colony on the church grounds.

It is my speculation that this entire area of Carrollton was likely home to this species of crayfish prior to its commercial and residential development.

Parkhill Prairie Crayfish – Identification

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Jul 102011

When I first discovered these crayfish I had no idea what species they were. As it turns out, positively identifying invertebrates is often very challenging, and these crayfish were no exception.

I visited the crayfish colony one evening after a summer rain storm had passed through. The temperature was relatively low, and the humidity was high. It was my hope that these conditions would encourage the crayfish to come out of their dens. I found this crayfish walking through the grass near his burrow, and managed to collect it easily. My plan was to use this live specimen to help with the identification process.

There are over 350 species of crayfish in North America, and at least 36 of them live in Texas. In general, crayfish species are under-studied, and poorly documented. Figuring out which species I had was going to be a challenge.

Announcement – ARKive.org Pictures

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Jun 222011

Some photographs I took of a Parkhill Prairie Crayfish colony are now on display at ARKive.org. ARKive is and interesting project whose stated mission is “Promoting the Conservation of the World’s Threatened Species, Through the Power of Wildlife Imagery.”

ARKive also has the backing of many of the world’s leading conservation organizations, including BirdLife International, Conservation International, IUCN, UNEP-WCMC, and WWF, as well as leading academic and research institutions, such as the Natural History Museum, London; Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew; and the Smithsonian Institution.

The ARKive project has unique access to the very best of the world’s wildlife films and photographs, with more than 3,500 of the world’s leading filmmakers and photographers actively contributing to the project, and giving ARKive unprecedented access to their materials. Contributors include the most famous names in natural history broadcasting, commercial film and picture agencies, leading academic institutions and international conservation organizations, as well as myriad individual filmmakers, photographers, scientists and conservationists.

You can see my photographs by following this link.

Parkhill Prairie Crayfish – On the Church Grounds

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Jun 142011

Once I was aware that crayfish in this part of North Texas are able to form colonies well away from standing water, I began to look for their chimneys in other locations. My first find away from the original colony was on the freshly mowed grounds of this neighborhood church. The mud chimneys of this colony were easy to spot from the road as I drove by.

This new colony is roughly two miles to the east of the first colony I found in a neighborhood park.

When I took these pictures I had still not identified the species of crayfish I had found. Through my research, though, I was shocked to discover that there are over 350 species of crayfish in the North America, of which around 36 live in Texas. Further, I was also surprised to discover a number of these species live the majority of their lives in burrows, well away from bodies of standing water. It had been my assumption, up until this point, that all crayfish were strictly aquatic animals.

Parkhill Prairie Crayfish – On Dry Land

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May 282011

I actually first discovered this crayfish colony almost a year ago, while visiting a nearby park. At the time I noticed a number of mud structures, which I thought resembled crayfish chimneys.

This particular location is nowhere near a standing body of water, which I believed would be essential for crayfish survival, so I dismissed the find, and decided there must be some other explanation for the mud structures besides crayfish.

Recently, I had the opportunity to visit the park again, and while there I decided to investigate the area to see if I could explain my earlier finding.

I quickly located a number of the mud mounds, finding around 20 or 30 or more chimneys in the park and on the grounds of an adjacent church.