• iconNews
  • videos
  • entertainment
  • Home
  • News
    • UK News
    • US News
    • Australia
    • Ireland
    • World News
    • Weird News
    • Viral News
    • Sport
    • Technology
    • Science
    • True Crime
    • Travel
  • Entertainment
    • Celebrity
    • TV & Film
    • Netflix
    • Music
    • Gaming
    • TikTok
  • LAD Originals
    • Say Maaate to a Mate
    • Daily Ladness
    • Lad Files
    • UOKM8?
    • FreeToBe
    • Extinct
    • Citizen Reef
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • UNILAD
  • SPORTbible
  • GAMINGbible
  • Tyla
  • UNILAD Tech
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
Threads
Snapchat
TikTok
YouTube

LAD Entertainment

YouTube

LAD Stories

Submit Your Content
Brits told to kill creepy river creature 'on sight' by stabbing its brain

Home> News

Published 17:50 6 Aug 2022 GMT+1

Brits told to kill creepy river creature 'on sight' by stabbing its brain

The American signal crayfish has wiped out around 90% of its native species

Anna Verdon

Anna Verdon

Brits are being urged to kill an American species of crayfish as soon as they spot it because of the deadly threat it poses.

Walkers and river users should stab a knife into the American signal crayfish’s brain, as it is the most humane way to kill the creature.

The miniature lobster has become increasingly common in UK waters, but due to their domineering size, menacing claws and healthy appetites they’re starting to wipe out their smaller white-claw crayfish cousins.

Scientists predict that around 90% of the species has now gone.

Advert

While it might seem harsh, it is illegal to leave the American signal crayfish alive if you spot it. However, it’s vital you check it isn’t the endangered white-claw variety first before you bludgeon it to death.

Helen Carter-Emsell, a crayfish expert, told North Wales Live: “We realise not everyone will have a knife with them.

NWWT

“The alternative is to squash them under a rock, though we recognise some people might find this unpleasant.”

The main way to differentiate the two is by the colour of their claws. Signal claws are red underneath with a white or blue blotch, whereas true to its name, white-claw crayfish claws are a lot paler.

Advert

To help stop contamination into other waters, Helen also advises that people should wash their shoes, dry their dogs, and clean their boats and fishing tackle before heading home.

Signal crayfish can grow up to 12 inches long and females can carry up to 250 eggs.

According to the Mirror, the species was introduced to the UK from the US in the late 70s when crayfish plague had almost wiped out white-claw crayfish populations.

National Trust/Annapurna Mellor

The plague doesn’t affect signals (although they can still be carriers of the disease) but it is deadly to white-claws.

Advert

But it’s not just the disease which is giving them their parasitic reputation. Signals also feast on fish eggs, burrow into river banks – often causing them to collapse – and even dine on white-claws.

In an attempt to stop them spreading, Carter-Emsell – who is Wellbeing Officer for the North Wales Resilient Ecosystems pilot project – asks that people don’t develop a taste for them too.

“We’d also encourage people not to develop a taste for crayfish and start creating their own food supplies in rivers, as this risks spreading signal crayfish to new areas,” she added.

Featured Image Credit: NWWT National Trust/Annapurna Mello

Topics: Animals, UK News, Environment

Anna Verdon
Anna Verdon

Advert

Advert

Advert

Choose your content:

5 mins ago
13 mins ago
an hour ago
2 hours ago
  • x/Lukethenuke180
    5 mins ago

    Fans in shock as Luke Littler shares video announcing he's 'taking a step back' to 'do something he loves'

    He's not really leaving darts... is he?

    News
  • H. Hung et al. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.
    13 mins ago

    Archaeologists rewrite human history after making 12,000 year old discovery

    Evidence of early human mummification has proven the existence of preservation practices far earlier than previously believed

    News
  • Greta Otteson / Facebook
    an hour ago

    Devastating update on Brit and fiancé who were found dead in hotel after drinking limoncello

    The couple were found dead after being gifted some limoncello

    News
  • Sky News
    2 hours ago

    Donald Trump makes scathing admission about Vladimir Putin during speech on UK visit

    Donald Trump called the Russian president out during a press conference at Chequers today (18 September)

    News
  • Brits warned about gruesome river creature that they should kill 'on sight' by stabbing in brain if they come across
  • NATO boss issues horrifying warning as its told Putin ‘could strike London’ next intensifying WW3 fears
  • British tourist and friend killed by charging elephant on safari in Zambia
  • Millionaire hunter gored to death by 200 stone buffalo he was trying to kill in £7,500 hunt