The short trail through the woods at Buttle Lake starts and ends at spots along the shore of the lake. I walked down to the water's edge to look at some red plants that I'm still trying to identify. Near the water, I found the big cheliped of a crayfish.
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| Signal Crayfish, Pacifastacus leniusculus. |
This is our native crayfish, the only one found on Vancouver Island. They're known as the Signal crayfish for the white to pale blue patch at the claw joint, here barely visible in this sun-bleached cheliped. The cheliped could have been left behind after a recent moult, just as crabs leave their old carapaces, legs and all, on the beach.
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| Where I found it, beside those pinkish sands. More on this later. |
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| I saw this one 6 years ago, in a creek off the Oyster River. |
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El sendero que seguí en el bosque en la orilla del Lago Buttle empieza y termina cerca del agua. Bajé al borde del agua para observar unas plantas rojas desconocidas (sigo sin identificarlas todavía), y allí encontré el quelípodo de un cangrejo de rio.
- Cangrejo de rio "Señal", Pastifastacus leniusculus. Este es nuestro cangrejo de rio nativo, y el único que se encuentra aquí en la isla. Se conocen como el cangrejo "Señal" por la marca blanca o azul pálido en la articulación de la pinza, aquí apenas visible en el quelípedo blanqueado por el sol, que probablemente abandonado después de una muda, al igual que los cangrejos de mar dejan sus caparazones con todo y patas en la playa.
- El sitio donde lo encontré, cerca de esas arenas color de rosa.
- Vi este hace 6 años, en una rama del rio Oyster.
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