ST. PAUL — The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources has
of zebra mussels in multiple northern Minnesota lakes.
The DNR says they’re in Sauer Lake in Becker County, near Detroit Lakes, and in Eleventh Crow Wing Lake, near Akeley, in Hubbard County.
Both instances were reported after zebra mussels were spotted attached to boats before being removed from the lake for the season.
The DNR says cleaning all boats, trailers and equipment is the law, whether a lake has invasive species there or not, and it’s best to use hot water.
“They’re typically not going to be in plain sight, so you do kind of have to look in all the crevices and cracks underneath to find them, and sometimes they can be kind of tricky when it’s in that initial infestation stage,” said Mark Ranweiler, invasive species specialist with the DNR.
If you think you’ve spotted zebra mussels or any other invasive species, you’re asked to contact the DNR.
Isak Dinesen joined WDAY-TV as a reporter in September 2024. He previously worked as a multimedia journalist at WAOW-TV in Wausau, Wisconsin for three years. He graduated from NDSU in 2020, majoring in Journalism and minoring in Sports Communication at MSUM.