Emilio the crayfish
By TheRealDawn
@dawnald (85146)
Shingle Springs, California
April 30, 2010 10:52am CST
Please, no jokes about garlic butter or cajun spices. This is a sensitive topic. lol
Two days ago, Cary came home from school all excited. "Mom, I need an envelope."
"Um, OK, why do you need an envelope."
"So you can write my teacher a note."
"What kind of a note do I need to write."
"You need to tell her that it's OK to bring my crayfish home."
Huh? Crayfish?
"Cary, I don't know how to take care of a crayfish."
"It's easy, mom, you just feed it plants. And you pick it up like this so it doesn't pinch you. And it grows by shedding. And it's so cool."
Deep sigh.
"Richard, Cary wants to bring home a crayfish."
So apparently Richard wasn't totally thrilled about this and told Cary no. Next day I get an e-mail from Cary's teacher saying that if it's OK for him to bring the crayfish home she needs a note or an e-mail.
So I reply and cc Richard, that he wasn't too thrilled about the idea, and I'll have to check with him. Comes the response back from him, "I told Cary no, we don't know how to take care of it." So I tell the teacher, no. And she says, OK, we'll just release him into the creek.
Half an hour later, Richard replies back, with a grumpy sounding, well OK, if we get instructions on how to take care of him. After all, we can always release him into the creek if Cary gets tired of taking care of him.
So I forward it to the teacher, with a comment that Cary must have batted his eyes at Richard. So she laughs and replies back with instructions.
And last night, all night, Cary proceeds to tell us all about Emilio the crayfish and how he's the biggest crayfish of the bunch, and how he's black with red claws, and how he wants to keep him in his room, and how he sheds his shell, and how he eats plants, and how he'll show me how to pick him up so I don't get pinched and so on. I didn't know the boy had that many words in him!
Meanwhile, Naomi whispers, "I give it a month before he gets bored."
So anyway, everybody please give a hearty welcome to our new addition, Emilio the crayfish...
11 people like this
30 responses
TATA.
@paula27661 (15811)
• Australia
2 May 10
Congratulations! What can I say? You have a new family member now. Emilio is a cool name I must say! We babysat crazy crabs for three weeks Cha Cha and Stripey. They didn’t do anything except scratch on their box at night while we were trying to sleep and smell pretty bad! I was glad to part with Cha Cha and Stripey when their owner came back from holidays! Well I hope Emilio is more interesting and a lot more pleasant to smell!
3 people like this
@BarBaraPrz (47683)
• St. Catharines, Ontario
30 Apr 10
You'll have to take a picture and show us.
Too funny.
2 people like this
@tamarafireheart (15384)
•
1 May 10
Hi dawn,
Lol!, kids can wind theie little fingers round adults, so congrats to your new addition to the family.
Tamara
3 people like this
. We've had chickens, turtles, fish, cats and dogs, but no crayfish for pets. So I can't offer any little tidbits of advice. But I'm sure Cary will be the good little caretaker... 
@beaniefanatic13 (5076)
• Grand Junction, Colorado
30 Apr 10
hello dawn, I welcome your newest addition and hope that Emilio will be very happy in his new home. I don't remember much about the crayfish from when my daughter was younger, but one things sticks out, you need shells. I believe you can get them at the pet store, they outgrow their shells and will need a new one. It's really all I remember, besides the smell, it seems I have a very sensitive nose. They really (according to others) don't smell that bad, to me it was awful. Good luck with your new addition and I hope the excitement stays for longer than a month. 
@beaniefanatic13 (5076)
• Grand Junction, Colorado
30 Apr 10
lol, so sorry your so right! 
2 people like this
@jillhill (37354)
• United States
3 May 10
Yeah..(clap clap) Welcome Emilio! Nice that you can have those kinds of additions to your family. My daughters had gerbils...they were supposed to take care of...well one day I go into their room and there is two gerbils feet up in the air not breathing of course....so I call them into their room and asked what happened..they both shrugged...well when was the last time they were fed? No one can remember....poor gerbils.
2 people like this
@Hatley (163776)
• Garden Grove, California
30 Apr 10
hi dawnald that just reminded me of a cocoon my son brought home and how upset my husband was as he thought that might be one of the green horned worm things that had invaded our corn patch. well it delevoped into a larva and oh yes it was a horned worm thing so my son gave it a decent burial only after he had tested the sense of humor of the little girl next door, my son was maybe five, the girl was ten . He dropped that ugly green horned worm thing into her palm. and she did not have a sense of humor and did just what I would have done in that case. She let out a bunch of scream, dropped the worm and fled into her house, causing her mom to wonder what the heck was going on. My son got a scolding from the mom thenhe buried the worm. I am glad this was not a horn worm but a crayfish. Kids with great brains do find things of nature a marvel and are avid in finding out all about the creatures they find, I always felt that if this desire to learn kept up as they grew up they would be A plus students. But so much of what thrills little kids is never really used to its full potential by so many teachers who just go on and on from text books without ever having some real hands on experiments with the children.
@dawnald (85146)
• Shingle Springs, California
30 Apr 10
Dearra found a lady bug egg case and kept it until the larvae hatched, fed them and then let them go. She also had butterflies that she hatched. No nasty horned worm things....
@AnnieOakley1 (5596)
• Canada
1 May 10
My Mom was like that. She let me bring things home, too. She used to take me fishing, and I cought the biggest catfish you have ever seen. I wanted to bring it home. It didn't matter that she told me it wouldn't live, I WANTED IT. So, she let me put it in the bathtub when we brought it home. My pet. I thought it was sooo cool. I watched it for hours and hours.
2 people like this
@dawnald (85146)
• Shingle Springs, California
1 May 10
a catfish huh...
Petsmart told us to put the crayfish in the goldfish tank, so that's what we did...
@katsmeow1213 (28716)
• United States
30 Apr 10
Last year my oldest son's class studied crayfish and were given the option of bringing theirs home. I said no because I forsaw many accidents happening. This house is too crowded and the little ones can't stay out of anything! I suppose if my younger 2 weren't so young I could have allowed it, but better to be safe than sorry.
2 people like this
@dawnald (85146)
• Shingle Springs, California
30 Apr 10
Maybe when the little ones are in school...
@much2say (56114)
• Los Angeles, California
30 Apr 10
Ha ha - welcome Emilio! I think pets are wonderful for kids . . . gives them a companion and teaches them responsibility (we hope). Cary sounds so enthused about his new friend - that's a good thing! Now, my daughter would like an elephant 
My friend in Virginia just went crayfish catching at the creek behind her son's school - but they let them go. I saw pics of them on Facebook!
My friend in Virginia just went crayfish catching at the creek behind her son's school - but they let them go. I saw pics of them on Facebook! 2 people like this
@ShepherdSpy (8544)
• Omagh, Northern Ireland
1 May 10
I can't get the Simpson's episode where Homer ends up coming home with a pet Lobster out of my mind after reading this ;)
@ShepherdSpy (8544)
• Omagh, Northern Ireland
3 May 10
Let's just say Homer decides to give his pet a bath and makes the water a little too hot... 
1 person likes this
@CJscott (4187)
• Portage La Prairie, Manitoba
30 Apr 10
Sounds like your in for an interesting few weeks. I personally don't like the taste of fish, so it is better as a pet then a meal. Like Lobster, did you know they would just keep growing and growing...before they started being commercially fished they could get up to 30lbs, and usually in the shop they are about 2.5-3lbs. Can you imagine a 30lb lobster? No wonder people believe in sea monsters.
Anyways, Welcome Emilio, to your new home, I hope and pray you enjoy it, and have a wonderful time shedding your skin, and not pinching folks.
With Appreciation.
1 person likes this
@puddebear (34)
• United States
11 May 10
I saw one at Sea World in Orlando, back in 1990. The thing had one claw as big as my kitchen sink, the other was a little smaller. One of the reasons I did not take up scuba diving - I don't want to see the one they didn't catch!!
My son and his friend brought me a handful of crayfish once. I tried to put them in a kiddie pool in the yard (don't laugh, it worked for the fish), but by the next afternoon they had ripped each other apart. Eeeeewww!!! Apparently they are not community critters!
2 people like this
@climber7565 (2579)
• United States
15 May 10
Oh my now I see the start up point on the new pet: crayfish arrival lately. Yes I finally got to the post. I am still trying to get caught up from my short absence. :)
So I take it you wrote the note? :) and the teacher liked it? :)
@climber7565 (2579)
• United States
16 May 10
oh I have to agree with that :) IT was funny.
1 person likes this
@Janey1966 (24170)
• Carlisle, England
30 Apr 10
I think it's brilliant that you are keeping a crayfish as a pet lol. Emilio is a fabulous name by the way!
I once saw a wonderful David Attenborough documentary that showed lobster dancing on the seabed...something to do with avoiding strong currents. It was such a long time ago I can't remember why they were all in a line like that but one thing's for sure...no way could I eat one. They scream when placed in hot water...ALIVE!
1 person likes this
@dawnald (85146)
• Shingle Springs, California
30 Apr 10
The teacher says he was practically skipping out the door today!
@joseline0568 (355)
• Philippines
1 May 10
Welcome Emilio the crayfish - hope you have a good life.
1 person likes this
@dawnald (85146)
• Shingle Springs, California
1 May 10
We'll never know 'cause somebody else took Emilio home. But Zero the crayfish is now living in the goldfish tank! :-)
