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Pastimes : Don't Ask Rambi -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Ish who wrote (65967)	11/29/2004 9:55:41 AM
From: Crocodile	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 71178

One good thing, we had a Zebra Mussel outbreak in the river a few years ago. Darn things were everywhere. Then they died off. Something in the soil in the river killed them. They're a pretty big problem up here, but that has to do with the calcareous water in certain areas. I wonder if that's actually what happened down your way -- perhaps the water couldn't really support them. Unfortunately, they thrive in the lakes and rivers in many areas up here and coat every surface -- including large species of mussels which soon die after being choked by them. They do have an effect on the water too, making it clear of algae, but at the cost of starving species that depend on algae. Interesting to see how whole ecosystems can become unbalanced by the introduction of something as small as a zebra mussel. One positive development in our region has been that the muskrat have finally taken to eating zebra mussels -- they didn't at first as the mussel shells are like razor blades (as you probably know), and there isn't much worth eating inside). It looks like other predators might be adapting to eating them as well, so perhaps in time, they won't be such a problem. -croc