September 21, 2024
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Volunteers sought to collect invasive species of rusty crayfish from Fox River

Collection of invasive crayfish event Aug. 7 in Batavia, St. Charles

By Brenda Schory

The Kane County Forest Preserve is seeking volunteers to help find rusty crayfish, an invasive species in the Fox River. Rusty crayfish impacts habitat and food availability for native species in waterways. An invertebrate, the rusty crayfish is three to five inches long, has a grayish-green body and two distinctive fingerprint-like rusty spots on either side of the body just in front of the tail. (Illinois Department of Natural Resources)

GENEVA – The Kane County Forest Preserve is seeking volunteers to help find rusty crayfish, an invasive species, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Aug. 7 at Glenwood Park Forest Preserve, 1644 S. River St., Batavia or at Ferson Creek Park, Route 31 east of Wildrose Springs Drive, St. Charles.

The rusty crayfish is an invertebrate that is three to five inches long with a grayish-green body and two distinctive fingerprint-like rusty spots on either side of the body just in front of the tail, according to the National Invasive Species Information Center of the U.S. Department of Agriculture website, invasivespeciesinfo.gov.

The rusty crayfish deprives native fish of their prey and cover and outcompete native crayfish causing a decline in native species, according to the website.

Volunteers caught rusty crayfish in the Fox River at last year's Kane County Forest Preserve event. Once caught, they are fed to animals at Red Oak Nature Center, St. Charles Park District and to the turtles at the Forest Preserve District. (provided)

Volunteers are asked to assist naturalists round them up in an attempt to reduce their numbers by using dip nets to collect, identify and remove them, according to a news release.

Volunteers should prepare to get wet and are advised to wear closed-toe shoes and clothes that can get muddy.

A family sifts through water samples from the Fox River, looking for rusty crayfish, an invasive species at last year's event. The next search is from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Aug. 7 in Batavia and St. Charles. (provided)

Once caught, the rusty crayfish will be fed to animals at Red Oak Nature Center, St. Charles Park District and to the turtles at the Forest Preserve District.

This program is in partnership with the Forest Preserve District of Kane County, the St. Charles Park District, Red Oak Nature Center and Friends of the Fox River.

A family of volunteers looks for rusty crayfish during last year's event, seeking the invasive invertebrate in Kane County's waterways. This year's event is Aug. 7. (provided)

No registration is required.

More information is available by calling 630-444-3190 or email programs@kaneforest.com.

The National Invasive Species Information Center website also states that the rusty crayfish was first discovered outside of its native range in Wisconsin in the 1960s, most likely through a bait bucket release.

According to the Invasive Crayfish Collaborative website, invasivecrayfish.org, the rusty crayfish is a of the dominant egg predator on spawning reefs in northern Lake Michigan, hindering efforts to rehabilitate native fish populations.

Kane County