BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — It was an amazing sight — crawdads coming out of the Kern River bed and venturing into parking lots and streets along the Truxtun Extension.
The mini-migration, if you will, was due to the heavy rainfall we’ve been seeing. But are these animals native to Bakersfield, and what made them come out of hiding?
Crawdads, or Crayfish, were seen all around Bakersfield on Monday. According to one resident, they’ve been here for decades.
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“So back in the ’70s when I was a kid, I was probably about 7, 6-7 years old. I would go to Hart Park and catch all these crawdads and make some scampi out of it,” said Chris Torrez, who grew up in Bakersfield.
Torrez said as a child, he caught crawdads for his grandpa to have a family meal.
“Like shrimp scampi but it would be crawdad scampi. It was really good because it was just butter, garlic, a little bit of wine. It tasted so good, they’re really delicious,” said Torrez.
The Monday crawdad invasion of Truxtun Avenue near the river brought fond memories back for Torrez.
“We’d use like a line with a hook and some bologna and just put it in there and wait till they grab a hold of it and then pull ’em up,” said Torrez. “You gotta do it real carefully, otherwise they’ll take off.”
But these mudbugs aren’t actually native to Kern County.
They are considered an invasive species, according to Rae McNeish, a professor of biology at Cal State Bakersfield who has studied the Kern River for years.
“Crayfish can get quite large. The one species that is likely what it is, is commonly called the red swamp crayfish,” said McNeish.
The Kern River provides a perfect environment for them to thrive.
“(The) invasive crayfish is the only one I’ve seen in the Kern River, and I think it only persists because it’s good adapted for slow moving warm waters which is what we have here,” said McNeish.
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The Monday showers allowed the crawdads to leave their homes in search of something new, according to McNeish.
“It’s an opportunity for them to maybe relocate to a different habitat, maybe like another pond, another lake,” she said. “They might be on the search for other food, they might be on the search for mates for reproduction.”
If you do go out to catch some crawdads to eat, just make sure you clean them first. McNeish said they carry parasites that could be harmful.
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