D
david
Guest
A few years back I moved up to the Sonoma/Napa County area of Northern California, away from the hellhole desert wastelands of toad-friendly but entirely sans-salamander Southern California.
One of the first things I did for a kick was clean out a fellow co-worker's decorative fountain in his private pond in exchange for checking out some of his resident California Newts (got disgustingly mucky but it was worth it! They were fantastic to finally see in person, orange belly and all (I had only read about them as a kid, from my LA County desert hellhole concrete jungle of a bedroom)!
Anyway, the guy who introduced me to California Newts up close has told me that, in 12 years, he's only once seen a terrestrial Pacific Giant Sallie. However, he has a creek running through his property where he says there are no shortage of the larvae; moreover, when I started speculating how I might catch one, he threw out this idea: He has a crawfish trap, the kind crawfish can crawl in, but can't get out. I haven't seen it, but it sounds like a mini-lobster pot of some kind. Anyway, I am thinking of giving that a try in a few months when the rains start--baiting it up and setting it in the stream. I only hope I don't catch any crawdads (which are also present in the stream) in the cage along with the Sallie larvae--I wouldn't want the crawdads to attack them in the close confines, so I would have to check the trap often.
What do you guys think about that idea, for catching the larvae? Is it loony, or you think it might work? I guess I am already going under the assumption that using a net might be too difficult (are they fast swimmers? I have never seen them yet in person.)
(P.S. I suppose I better watch what I write on here or the Soup Nazi California regulators--which have already outlawed my beloved Axolotls--will come get me...well, I've got a fishing license, does that qualify, O Mighty Totalitarian Overlords?)
(Message edited by todas_abiyoyo on October 22, 2005)
(Message edited by todas_abiyoyo on October 22, 2005)
One of the first things I did for a kick was clean out a fellow co-worker's decorative fountain in his private pond in exchange for checking out some of his resident California Newts (got disgustingly mucky but it was worth it! They were fantastic to finally see in person, orange belly and all (I had only read about them as a kid, from my LA County desert hellhole concrete jungle of a bedroom)!
Anyway, the guy who introduced me to California Newts up close has told me that, in 12 years, he's only once seen a terrestrial Pacific Giant Sallie. However, he has a creek running through his property where he says there are no shortage of the larvae; moreover, when I started speculating how I might catch one, he threw out this idea: He has a crawfish trap, the kind crawfish can crawl in, but can't get out. I haven't seen it, but it sounds like a mini-lobster pot of some kind. Anyway, I am thinking of giving that a try in a few months when the rains start--baiting it up and setting it in the stream. I only hope I don't catch any crawdads (which are also present in the stream) in the cage along with the Sallie larvae--I wouldn't want the crawdads to attack them in the close confines, so I would have to check the trap often.
What do you guys think about that idea, for catching the larvae? Is it loony, or you think it might work? I guess I am already going under the assumption that using a net might be too difficult (are they fast swimmers? I have never seen them yet in person.)
(P.S. I suppose I better watch what I write on here or the Soup Nazi California regulators--which have already outlawed my beloved Axolotls--will come get me...well, I've got a fishing license, does that qualify, O Mighty Totalitarian Overlords?)
(Message edited by todas_abiyoyo on October 22, 2005)
(Message edited by todas_abiyoyo on October 22, 2005)