Crawfish in Echo Park Lake?!

Martin Cox photographed the sneaky Echo Park crawfish while hangin' with Jenny Burman

Up in the mountains in northern California, we call them crawdads, but whether you call them crawfish, crawdads, or crayfish – they are pretty much the same. One thing I never expected was for them to show up in the murky waters of Echo Park Lake, but Jenny Burman of Chicken Corner has the proof.

This fancy-looking guy or gal showed itself yesterday while Chicken Corner was taking a walk around the park with her pal Martin Cox, dog Chyla, and for a little while Dave Foster, who manages the park on site for Park & Rec. The crayfish stayed in view for about 40 seconds, then hastened into the crack in the cement (mid-ground in the photo), exactly where it was headed at the moment Martin snapped the photo with his cell phone.

A little bit of research revealed perhaps, just maybe, could it be the crawfish found in Silver Lake back in 2005 by LA Weekly columnist Joe Donnelly? Nicknamed Iko, the crawfish was found on a sidewalk in Silver Lake, and transported to Echo Park Lake, where it “quickly disappeared into the murk.” I don’t know how long crawfish live, but perhaps it is an Iko sighting?