Help identify this little critter I found in the garage

["Turbo-T"]

Found this little guy in my garage as I was cutting off my old exhaust, rolled over on the floor and there it was.

Looks just like a lobster but much smaller, in fact this guy is only as big as half the size of a U.S. 1 dollar bill.

I'm guessing it's some sort of Crayfish (or Crawdad for you southerners) but don't they live near a water source? There's no real water source around where I live, and I'm out in the boon docks.

Any ideas?

 

[DSR-TurboT]

It's a crawfish alright, bring him to Bowling Green next year and I will show what to do with him. They really don't need much water to survive.

 

[BlackMetal]

I've come across some creepy things on the garage floor, that would be a first.

 

[Scott-N-GA]

I was told that crawdad's and catfish both wind up in every sort of water puddle found. Supposely the eggs, and babys get transported by birds and alot of ducks from place to place.

Scott

 

[rw87tt]

Hurry! Somebody get the rice.

:d

 

[rmar]

I got the seasoning.........:biggrin:

Hope you like spicy.

 

[notacarlo]

Looks like it's time to show the newbie how to suck heads.

We had a boil in my back yard a couple of years ago and I was finding stragglers that made it out of the purge bucket for weeks. My cats were happy.

 

["Turbo-T"]

I think this one is a little too small to eat unless size doesn't matter.

 

[notacarlo]

! Who told you size matters?!

When you eat'em, you cook about 50-100 pounds. It's a lot of work but it helps even out the flow of beer.

When I said newbie, I meant to crawfish.:biggrin:

 

[GNBRETT]

Looks yummy!

 

[jdpolzin]

We have crawdads all over the place over here. I never knew you could eat them? We usually just fish with them. How do you cook them?

 

["Turbo-T"]

I would guess you boil them, same as a lobster.

Never said size mattered, but I'd think you'd want them a little bigger. This little guy isn't very big at all.

 

[rmar]

Throw in a little Old Bay. Bam...!

 

[1LowLeSabre]

Mudbug.

 

[notacarlo]

Start a pot of water with some onions, whole mushrooms,corn on cobb, whole garlic cloves, new potatoes, smoked sausage pieces, a couple of split lemons, package of crab boil,1 container of Tony Chacheres seasoning, 1 bottle of hot sauce,1 bottle of tabasco, and half a cup of kosher salt.

Put the crawfish in a container with tap water. The chlorine will make them puke and crap out all the stuff in their belly.

Throw them in the pot, wait for it to boil - they should start to sink - Once at a boil, remove from heat and ice immediately. Just to stop the cooking process. Then strain off the brine and pour the bugs/veggie mix onto a table covered in newspaper.

Get good beer and enjoy.

On the tail - the center scale - twist and pull - the vein usually slides right out if that bugs you. I eat it all. Pull the tail off and suck the juice from the head!

 

[jdpolzin]

I'd like to try that sometime.

 

[notacarlo]

We've been doing a 200 person boil for 9 years. Number 9 was last weekend.

 

[rmar]

How about a little etouffee?

 

[notacarlo]

Oh yeah....

When you do the purge (washing them down with tap water) do it a couple of times. The water will be dirty the first time and progressively get more clear.

Some people put kosher salt in the water to speed up the process. We found that adding salt to the purge doubles up on the salt content of the finished product as the brine they are cooked in is fairly salty.

If anyone want's an exact recipe, PM me or I will post it if enough are interested. The season is almost over (for select crawfish) so be quick about it if you want to try it.

We even use the leftover brine to make bloody mary's the next morning. Just cut the bloody mary mix by a 3rd and add 3rd of the brine.

 

[Dabigguy]

I got a call from a girl a few years ago and she was screaming her head off and said a "bug" was crawling across her floor. I asked her if it was bigger than her foot and if it wasn't to step on it. She said it was bigger than her foot and wanted to know what she should do. Me, thinking she just wanted me to come over, told her to put a bowl over it and I would be right over..........well, when I get there, there is a crawfish about 8" under this Tupperware bowl and it was stalking her Dashound with raised pinchers whenever the dog came near!!!! I took a piece of cardboard and slipped it under the bowl and carried the little fella out back and set him free.

I was the hero and yes, she wanted me !!!!