(Another interesting sideline to the "Hex" hatch that is going on in the
Lake Erie region). It is a pest, the Zebra muscle, that was introduced via
foreign vessel, that has contributed greatly to the huge Hex hatch that they
now experience. The Zebra was of major concern as it multiplied incredibly,
almost overnight, clogging intake pipes to where they had to chlorinate to
keep them open. The bottom of the lake is covered with these shelled
muscles. They are quite small, but each day filter a small volume of
polluted water through their bi-valve system extracting the polluted matter.
Lake Erie is now very clean do to these tiny critters and Hex is the
benificiary. They will shred your sinking flyline if you drag it over the
bottom, however. Jere
----- Original Message -----
From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Thursday, July 06, 2000 1:05 PM
Subject: big mayfly hatch
> Did any of the AOL list members or otherwise, catch this story off the AP
wire. Incouraging at least, they call it a nusence, I call it refreshing.
>
>
> Mayflies Making Life Miserable
> The Associated Press
> By JOHN SEEWER PORT CLINTON, Ohio (AP)
>
> - They land in
> your hair and stick to your clothes. Like creatures out of a horror
movie,
> millions of mayflies are rising again out of Lake Erie and swarming its
> shoreline. Towns in Ohio, Michigan and Canada are blanketed with the
> flying insects that cling to windows, fast-food signs, cars - just about
> anything. They also crunch underfoot. ``It's like running over Rice
> Krispies,'' said car dealer Troy Maxwell. ``You can hear them popping.''
It
> may be little consolation to shoreline residents, but the mayflies are a
> sign of a healthier Lake Erie. They were killed off from the 1950s
through
> the 1980s by high pollution levels that reduced oxygen in the lake. Now
> that the lake is cleaner, the mayfly has made a comeback. They began
> returning along western Lake Erie in 1996. The insects have a life
> expectancy of one or two days, sticking around just long enough to
> reproduce. A female mayfly can lay up to 8,000 eggs. The invasion
> begins in June and usually ends within a month. Mayflies are about an
> inch or two long with paper-thin wings and big, beady eyes. Despite their
> appearance, they don't bite. ``They're like snowflakes almost, they're
all
> different,'' said Laurie Eberle, Port Clinton's administrative assistant.
The
> mayflies are generally found in the shallow areas of western Lake Erie
> and its shores. Winds on the lake usually push them toward Ohio's
> shoreline, but this year the winds have been blowing toward Canada.
> Cities in Ontario were covered with mayflies earlier in June. Now the
> pests are coming back to Ohio. Port Clinton, halfway between Toledo
> and Cleveland, is popular with boaters, sunbathers and anglers. In early
> summer, though, out-of-town visitors are understandably repulsed.
> ``Everywhere you go is just full of them,'' Frieda Schmuki said as she
> tried to enjoy a scoop of vanilla ice cream. ``I'm trying to watch what
I'm
> eating.'' Seconds later she was plucking a mayfly out of her
> granddaughter's hair. ``Yucky!'' yelled 5-year-old Laura. Most residents
> have learned to cope, knowing to close their doors - and their mouths.
> Porch lights, street lamps, and advertising signs are turned off at night
to
> avoid attracting swarms. Restaurants use leaf-blowers and snow shovels
> to clear sidewalks. One recent hatch left windows at a Burger King
> covered with mayflies. Some even got inside and were hanging from the
> ceiling. ``They're like shades,'' said restaurant manager Luanne Keller.
> ``It's not appetizing.'' Others don't bother cleaning up. ``We just leave
> them be,'' said Carrie Smith, a gas station employee. ``Because there's
> just more coming.''
>
>
