Zebra Mussels Discovered in Lake Ashtabula

[Traxion]

I think the most realistic thought on waterfowl transporting ANS is this. What do you supposed the odds are of zeebs surviving in bird shit or in feathers versus a ballast bag or bilge of a boat? Granted their can be A LOT of waterfowl, but how many ingest/carry enough to infect a lake? Certainly a few. But, one person dumps 5 gallons of infected water into a lake.....now what are the odds? I know in the training I went to, they laughed at the question of birds. Very low odds, though it happens. Fisherman and recreationalists is where it is. As stated, many places have a lake that is infested and another very close that isn't. If you make an effort once the infestation is found you can slow it down.

Keep in mind the velligers (immature zeebs) are the main transport method. Adult zeebs attach to things like glue and seldom get plucked, moved, and crapped out. The most common way adults move is boats, docks, etc. so that is why inspections check the boat for adults and any water within.

Since it sounds like they are well established I am guessing they are in several locations around ND right now.....

 

[dean nelson]

Sort of like the age-old scientific question how do fish show up in bodies of water that are connected to no other bodies of water. The truth on that question is science has considered it so solved it's never actually been studied even though it was postulated by Charles Darwin. But here's a little study on freshwater shrimp in Europe that's fairly telling and it also points back to North Dakota quite well in the fact that anyone who has duck hunted here has picked up decoys in a random cut off pothole not connected to anything yet it's covered with fresh water shrimp. These same ponds are filled with weeds that are aquatic in nature and certainly didn't walk there and many of them have Fathead minnows once again completely cut off. So how did they get there and the answer is pretty obvious they hitched a ride.

 

[MSA]

Dig a hole big enough to attract ducks n geese once it's filled with water, and it will have minnows, perch, and sticklebacks swimming around in it in one year. If fish eggs can survive in bird feathers, those velligers definitely can.

And don't forget the wandering turtles with adult zeebs on their shell.

 

[NDSportsman]

I think the most realistic thought on waterfowl transporting ANS is this. What do you supposed the odds are of zeebs surviving in bird shit or in feathers versus a ballast bag or bilge of a boat? Granted their can be A LOT of waterfowl, but how many ingest/carry enough to infect a lake? Certainly a few. But, one person dumps 5 gallons of infected water into a lake.....now what are the odds? I know in the training I went to, they laughed at the question of birds. Very low odds, though it happens. Fisherman and recreationalists is where it is. As stated, many places have a lake that is infested and another very close that isn't. If you make an effort once the infestation is found you can slow it down.

Keep in mind the velligers (immature zeebs) are the main transport method. Adult zeebs attach to things like glue and seldom get plucked, moved, and crapped out. The most common way adults move is boats, docks, etc. so that is why inspections check the boat for adults and any water within.

Since it sounds like they are well established I am guessing they are in several locations around ND right now.....

It only takes one. These things reproduce like rabbits on fertility drugs!

 

[PrairieGhost]

I don't think many species hitch rides on birds. Some do. I think what people are calling fresh water shrimp are Amphiods. We have two species Gammarus lacustris and Hyalella aztecs. Both have the unusual behavior of attaching themselves to other animals. A fellow biologist shot a duck one day far from any wetland. There was a handfull of Hyalella where the duck hit the ground, and many between its feathers. I have come out of wetlands with a dozen Amohipods surrounding each snap on my wetsuit. Very few species transport in this manner, but I do wonder about the zebra mussel. We fail miserably controlling invasive. It's much like the problem with CWD. Wild elk with CWD don't hitch rides in stock trailers, but farmed cervids do.

 

[Duckslayer100]

I know for a fact freshwater shrimp hitch rides on birds because I had a Geo prizm trunk to prove it. Went out on an early goose hunt back in my younger days and whacked a limit in a field. Put the geese in the trunk with some gear (the rest went in the back seat) and drove an hour back home. By the time I got everything unpacked and was ready to clean, I found out my trunk was LOADED with freshwater shrimp. They must have hitched a ride on the geese and were still firmly imbedded when they went to the field to feed. It was only after my trunk got a bit warm and the shrimp started to die that they fell out (fun fact: those shrimp turn bring pinkish orange when they heat up, just like the cooked shrimp you get from Red Lobster).

SO it is 100 percent feasible that geese loafing in a body of water could transport shrimp, bugs, bits of pond weeds, etc. and they could survive a flight to another body of water.

 

[shorthairsrus]

I can tell you from being on the same lake for as long as I can remember that the mussels have destroyed the fishing on Lake Lida. This used to be a premier fishing lake, but after having known mussels for 6 years now, the last couple years have been horrible. The DNR is saying the worst test netting in the history of the lake. This was a lake that was never recently stocked and had all natural reproduction. Not anymore. Going to be several years now before it gets better.

The association used to stock it with walleyes --- do they not do that anymore? that was the only reason that lake was any good imo - of course i am a big stock it fan

 

[dean nelson]

I don't think many species hitch rides on birds. Some do. I think what people are calling fresh water shrimp are Amphiods. We have two species Gammarus lacustris and Hyalella aztecs. Both have the unusual behavior of attaching themselves to other animals. A fellow biologist shot a duck one day far from any wetland. There was a handfull of Hyalella where the duck hit the ground, and many between its feathers. I have come out of wetlands with a dozen Amohipods surrounding each snap on my wetsuit. Very few species transport in this manner, but I do wonder about the zebra mussel. We fail miserably controlling invasive. It's much like the problem with CWD. Wild elk with CWD don't hitch rides in stock trailers, but farmed cervids do.

And fathead minnows that show up everywhere.....what magic? Hell simple surface tension alone of a drop of water is all it would take to move a zebra mussel in it's younger stages.

 

[JMF]

How do the damn water bugs ( I think they're called oarsman) end up in my kids' kiddy pool?

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I guess they are called water boatman.

 

[guywhofishes]

wings

 

[That guy]

As long as everyone is speculating on how this happened maybe devils lake and stump lake had them already and all the water the have been pumping into the river brought them in. But on another note has anyone else noticed the weeds have changed in the lake the last couple of years?

 

[Wags2.0]

How do the damn water bugs ( I think they're called oarsman) end up in my kids' kiddy pool?

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I guess they are called water boatman.

Those things give me the creeps. Seems like one always swims into the ice hole just to taunt me.

I imagine they speak in a heavy french accent for some reason. I'm weird.

 

[WormWiggler]

Maybe the "carried by birds" analysis being looked at should take into consideration that birds tend to migrate North/South.... this may be a causation as to why the mussels seem to be east to west and not everywhere. I think it is a matter of time and am leaning toward the camp that prevention is through funds down the drain...

In regards to Lake Lida, correlation does not always mean causation, what else has changed, what species are you referring to, is there a life cycle to a lake? I see more questions than answers.... I have caught less fish in last 10 years than the 10 before that... so fishing sucks, oh what, no time, no boat.... And how does Lake Lida compare to ND lakes, assuming that is our focus?

 

[KDM]

I think people will learn how to deal with them and life will go on. Other folks have adapted to the presence of ZM's and the folks of North Dakota will too.

 

[PrairieGhost]

And fathead minnows that show up everywhere.....what magic? Hell simple surface tension alone of a drop of water is all it would take to move a zebra mussel in it's younger stages.

Very few species transport in this manner, but I do wonder about the zebra mussel.

My intended point was yes I do suspect zebra mussels could be transported that way. As far as minnows maybe unicorns. :::

 

[MSA]

How do the damn water bugs ( I think they're called oarsman) end up in my kids' kiddy pool?

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I guess they are called water boatman.

Most water bugs/beetles have wings, fly all over at night

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Perch, minnows, sticklebacks, and other species of fish spawn very shallow, multiple times a year, and have very sticky eggs. Those eggs stick to their feathers whenever they're swimmin around in the weeds. I've found all of those fish in virtually every puddle out there.

 

[westwolfone]

Just convince the Hmongs that Zebra Mussels are edible, they'll take care of it from there.

 

[MuskyManiac]

In regards to Lake Lida, correlation does not always mean causation, what else has changed, what species are you referring to, is there a life cycle to a lake? I see more questions than answers.... I have caught less fish in last 10 years than the 10 before that... so fishing sucks, oh what, no time, no boat.... And how does Lake Lida compare to ND lakes, assuming that is our focus?

All I'm saying is that Lida is (was) considered by many, including the DNR, to be the best all-around fishing lake in Ottertail County. And that is saying a lot considering some of the lakes in the county. And now the lake is basically dead comparatively. My uncle is on an advisory board working with the DNR and they said the fish just aren't around. They went deeper and deeper each year and now they're gone. Pelican Lake is always used as an example of a good walleye lake with mussels, but they have had them many years longer, and they stock the living shit out of this lake, both the DNR and the lake association.

Those with a nonchalant view of mussels are going to find out the hard way what they can do. I've seen it firsthand.

 

[Captain Ahab]

As long as everyone is speculating on how this happened maybe devils lake and stump lake had them already and all the water the have been pumping into the river brought them in. But on another note has anyone else noticed the weeds have changed in the lake the last couple of years?

Hell, the national fish hatchery could be the culprit. Trading eggs and fry for stocking. Sounds like things have been in Ash for more than a year. That water has been used for rearing and stocking. Right under their nose. Interesting.....

 

[PrairieGhost]

And fathead minnows that show up everywhere.....what magic? Hell simple surface tension alone of a drop of water is all it would take to move a zebra mussel in it's younger stages.

Very few species transport in this manner, but I do wonder about the zebra mussel.

My intended point was yes I do suspect zebra mussels could be transported that way. As far as minnows maybe unicorns. :::

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How the heck do I get double posts? The first one looked like it didn't go do I hit post reply again.