I’ve Been Wrong About These Mud Mounds My Whole Life

When I was a kid and tasked with mowing the yard, I'd run into these mud mounds everywhere. I always thought they were wasp nests. You know, mud daubers.

It's what I'd been told so I believed it. And because I believed it, I dared not hit them with the mower, lest I activate a scene from a horror movie starring me and a bunch of wasps.

No, I never had to worry about them in the first place. No, it wouldn't have been a good idea to run them down with the mower; I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have heard the end of that from my dad.

If I had just been around one of them at the right time, I would have seen a burrowing crayfish emerge.

Get our free mobile app

Honestly, until within the last 24 hours, I never before knew that's what lived in those things. And now they seem to be popping up everywhere. I've been seeing them. I've seen folks discuss them on Facebook.

And so I did a little armchair research on the topic and found a guy from south Texas who, seven years ago, went in after one of the little buggers. Or, mudbugs, I guess.

I had no idea these presented such a problem, but they do. And the explanation at GardeningKnowHow.com makes perfect sense. Like moles, they can create enough holes in your yard to cause damage, especially to your lawn equipment.

Do you have a burrowing crayfish/crawfish issue?

Well, start digging. Then fill a big kettle full of water and bring it to boil. Then throw in a bunch of potatoes, ears of corn, sausage, seasonings...

Well, you get where I'm going.