How to Get Rid of Crawdads in the Yard
Crawdads--also referred to as crawfish, crayfish, freshwater crabs and freshwater lobsters--can become a nuisance for homeowners. It is unusual to think of creatures that live in the water as an issue to land dwellers, but crawdads often leave the water and burrow in dry land. Initially the burrows are only a few feet from the water's edge, but as the population of crawdads grows, the creatures begin to burrow further into your yard. This burrowing can kill plant life and is quite unsightly, especially if rodents and other wildlife begin digging into the ground to catch the crawdads.
Place chicken or dead fish in a metal crawfish trap. Small traps can hold about 25 crawdads, while larger traps can be used to catch a larger population.
Put the baited crawdad trap offshore and under no more than 6 feet of water.
Check the traps daily and remove unwanted crawdads. Replace the bait as needed.
Buy or mix a pest control solution to attack crawdads in their burrows. This is optional, as chemicals can be dangerous to plant and water life. Purchase a turf pest control powder or mix your own solution. To mix a lime solution, dissolve 1 lb. of chloride of lime in 3 gallons of water. To mix a turpentine solution, mix 2 qts. of turpentine and 1/4 lb. of soap powder in a quart of water, then mix 1 part of the solution in 50 parts of water. Pour either solution in a spray bottle.
Apply the pest control solution by sprinkling the top of each crawdad burrow with 1 to 2 tsp. of pest control powder or spray 1 or 2 oz. of the lime or turpentine solution to the top of each burrow. Apply the pest control only to burrows that are at least 10 feet from the water's shore. Pest control is poisonous and can contaminate nearby water sources.
Si Kingston has been an online content contributor since 2004, with work appearing on websites such as MadeMan. She is a professional screenwriter and young-adult novelist and was awarded the Marion-Hood Boesworth Award for Young Fiction in 2008. Kingston holds a Bachelor of Arts in English from Mills College.