Crayfish...not the ideal family pet!

So on Tuesday Larry took Kimberlyn to gymnastics, I was cooking dinner and the older kids ran over to the pond behind our house to "fish." They took their net with their hopes of catching something. Tommy and I took a break from the kitchen to go see what was going on...


In Okahoma they DID in fact catch minnows and crayfish...we still have 2 crayfish (cray and Baby Cray --to Kimberlyn Baby Cray is Nemo) and FOUR minnows. They are actually pretty, they were small and transparent when the kids brought them home. Yes, if you don't recall we drove cross country with a fish tank last August during the move!

Cray got big and bossy and actually attacked Baby Cray....now we have TWO tanks. What next...

Good question....this is what was next real fish in my KITCHEN!! I think Larry said they are Blue Gills??? Not sure if that is what he called them or not.


So Dad got home and yep, we'll put them in the tank with Cray. I just shook my head, what else could I have done??!??!
Happy in their new home?? I guess.



Cray not so sure about the intrusion of privacy....



Cray letting the fish know exactly how he feels about the situation...



Poor shocked fish made my decision final (the kids went on a bike ride with Dad)...poor thing shocke dout of his mind about to be a gourmet dinner for Cray! Cray is a domesticated crayfish that gets fed very well in his home....he's not going to eat these poor tortured fish the kids brought home!

As a matter of fact yesterday (Wednesday) I had to do some online crayfish research as the kids came home and realized Cray was GONE! I figure he was mad about the incident and Mom taking his gourmet dinner away the day before he was gonns high tail it outta here!! The kids and I tore up the room where Cray's tank is....NO CRAY! 35 minutes or so have passed....goodness I thought, I wonder how long he can live out of water? Which brought me on my research mission. First thing I found is most crayfish live 1-2 yrs...ah, goodness, no pity for the dead guy...he's lived almost 2 yrs with us! Finally as long as their gills don't dry out they'll be fine out of water. This info would be helpful if I had a clue when he bailed and if his gills were drying out :) We gave up on the hunt...and I prayed his dead body wouldn't smell too bad....

An hour after we realized he was gone I noticed the cat go into the living room out of the corner of my eye. I just thought somebody should check in there. This was practically the farthest place from cray's tank...yep...THERE WAS CRAY....ALIVE!
We're assuming he had help along the journey by the cat or something? NO IDEA...he's back in his tank for the time being, this was his second escape, I bet it's not his last!

Oh, the fish the kids brought home were kindly released back to their proper home....the pond!