Walking Catfish in Vermilion River, Lafayette, Louisiana

What is the possibility of a walking catfish being found on the bank of a coulee ( tributary) amidst cypress stumps and grass. Low lying area...soggy ground.... in Vermilion Parish, Louisiana??
My daughter and her step son reported seeing a pair of 24" long darkish brown "fish" scuttle off the bank when they approached.
I showed her a picture of several species of walking catfish and she ID'ed the larger , darker one.

Any ideas what this might be?

She is definite about it NOT being a snake, soft shell turtle or alligator.

IF it's not a walking cat, how about Amphiuma? They breed in winter and lay eggs out of water.

Thanks Gerald you beat me to the punch. I was going to add that possibility, though most people would likely put them in the snake category unless they were pretty familiar with amphibians...

Yes. I have seen many of these around here. My daughter just described something rather large and said it was darkish and brown but seems to remember maybe some white color on the belly ??? .
The critted you are talking about that I have seen around crawfish ponds and such are much darker. However, it could still be. they would be huge though.

Thank you for the information. She is keeping an eye on the location to see if they show up again.

NM

Edited by netmaker, 19 February 2013 - 11:53 PM.

How are you Greg - Long time, no talk!

Hello old Buddy,

I see i am not the only one up late.

I've been busy with a lot more work then usual. Got involved with the Asian carp folks and they have a never ending list of things they want built to try. Not much worked , until we brought up a set of Paupier nets to Missouri and Illinois. they hammered the 8-18" sizes. Now we are on the brink of installing a shock system into these Paupier nets ( framed nets that fish on either side of the boat). Should be a lot of excitement if it works like it is supposed to. * You can look up USFWS paupier nets for asian carp* there's some pictures and things.* Nothing terrific, just some nets.


Still doing some Pallid sturgeon work with the Midwest guys and I picked up somefolks from Fisheries and Oceans looking for YOY pallids , chubs and darters up in Canada
Otherwise I spend a lot of time fighting this vertigo thing that just will not go away. Some days its 1-3 foot seas others its 5-7 with swells! ha ha!


Wish I had some reliable help, but that idea is long gone. Folks around here just want a freebie check if they can get it. so the wife and I do what we can and that's all. same thing as most folks i suppose.

So how are you doing these days? Should be a big year for high water when all that Yankee sneaux melts. the creeks will be teeming with critters. Hope your health is holding up and all the family is well too.

Keep in touch.

Greg

Edited by netmaker, 15 April 2013 - 12:29 AM.

I just caught this thread on this round... My first thought was Amphiuma, too. I haven't seen any reports of walking catfish out this way. Hopefully, it wasn't giant Salvinia that has sprouted legs. That's my worst fear.

Yes. I have seen many of these around here. My daughter just described something rather large and said it was darkish and brown but seems to remember maybe some white color on the belly ??? .
The critted you are talking about that I have seen around crawfish ponds and such are much darker. However, it could still be. they would be huge though.

Thank you for the information. She is keeping an eye on the location to see if they show up again.

NM

If she happens to see it again and gets a picture of it, feel free to send it to us at the USGS NAS program and we'll try to ID it....

Well, we saw something just the other day after a really big rain and she ID'ed it again. It was an Amphiuma.... it was larger than most i have seen when I was working with the crawfish guys....but it still had the beady little eyes and teeny little arms.

Shucks! I was hoping for a mystery! ! !