Crayfish and Harvest Full Moon

It was 1936 when the creek in the pasture of a southwestern Minnesota farm was an outdoor classroom. As a child I was discovering creatures that were wonders. Among them were crayfish, members of the lobster family. When the stream was low in midsummer we found that tipping up rocks brought to light the small residents of the creek.

The claws of the miniature crayfish were threatening to the eyes of an exploring child. Fear was not necessary. We were curious about how those crayfish survived among the many citizens of this warm water stream. It was named Dutch Charlies Creek. We did not care about who Dutch Charlie was but we did care about who lived in the creek so we set about inspecting the pebbles and rocks. There was no intent to harm the creatures since nature was our school and the creatures were the teachers.

The creatures included salamanders, small fish, algae, turtles, larvae as well as crayfish (crawfish).  These natural teachers are provided free of charge for curious humans of all ages.   Respect is to be shown to all teachers. The sounds of slow moving shallow stream are muted and calming.  Stream music is comparable to the tides and waves on the ocean shores.

This night, October 5, 2017 is the Harvest Full Moon.  In 1936 the Harvest moon was on September 30.  That moon looks down on streams and the creatures who are surviving human intrusion.

In later years I have learned that crayfish do not live in polluted waters. In 1936 chemical fertilizers were not widely used so the run off from fields was primarily soil. Spring runoff from snow melt tended to wash the soil downstream and to the Minnesota River and Minnesota River to the Gulf of Mexico.

Join me showing respect to the small creatures in streams over the world and the beautiful phases of the moon.

  Delton  10-5-17