Be watchful for zebra mussels this spring

With the spring temperatures, boaters will soon be out in force. The winds are forecasted to let up by this weekend.

Authorities have always cautioned the public about picking up hitchhikers on highways, and, in the case of boat rides, it’s more about the tiny invaders known as the Zebra mussel.

An expert once likened the mussel infestation in water pipes coming out of a lake to plaque build-up in a person’s carotid artery.

Power-plant equipment and publicwater intakes can be disrupted by these tiny critters.

They are both invasive freshwater mollusks or clams that infest waters in large numbers, attaching to any hard surface, according to the United States Fish and Wildlife Service.

Native to the Caspian and Black Sea areas, the zebra mussel expanded through shipping canals throughout most of Europe and Great Britain by the 1830s.They were first discovered in North America around the Great Lakes region in 1988.

A few years after that, the mussels had made their way down the Hudson and Illinois rivers to the Mississippi River, then the infestation was seen to include areas of the Verdigris and Arkansas rivers of Oklahoma.

Currently, the zebra infested lakes and bodies of water in Oklahoma are Robert S. Kerr Reservoir, Lake Arcadia, Ardmore City Lake, Canton Lake, Lake Carl Blackwell, Chimney Rock Lake, Lake Ellsworth, Lake Eufaula, Foss Lake, Fort Gibson Lake, Grand Lake, Lake Hefner, Lake Hudson, Kaw Lake, Keystone Lake, Lake McMurtry, Lake Murray, Lake Overholser, Lake Oologah, Pawnee City Lake, Ponca City Lake, Shawnee Twin Lakes, Lake Skiatook, Sooner Lake, Lake Texoma and Tom Steed Reservoir as well as in the lower Canadian, Cimarron, Arkansas, Verdigris, Washita and North Canadian rivers.

These unwelcome guests are small, from microscopic size up to two inches in length, typically found in clusters and can release up to one million eggs in a lifetime.

The mussels can attach themselves to almost anything such as boats, trailers, live wells, bilge pumps, bait buckets, aquatic plants and any kind of aquatic recreational equipment. Then, they hitch a ride to the next body of water your equipment enters.

They are a costly nuisance for anglers and boaters. Zebra mussels can ruin your equipment and clog cooling systems in motor boats.

The Oklahoma Zebra Mussel Task Force is asking boaters, personal watercraft users and fisherman to take a few precautions when boating in an infested lake or river. The microscopic larvae can be unknowingly transported in bilges, engine cooling systems, live wells and anywhere else water can become trapped; To help prevent damage to your watercraft, do the following:

• Drain the bilge water, live wells and bait buckets.

• Inspect the boat and trailer immediately upon leaving the water as young zebra mussels may feel like grit on the surface.

• Scrape off any zebra mussels found and do not return them to the water.

• Dry the boat and trailer for at least a week before entering another waterway.

• Or, wash boat parts and accessories (bilge, live well, pumping system and bait buckets) which come into contact with the affected water with a high pressure sprayer using hot water (140 degrees); a 10-percent solution of household chlorine bleach and water or a hot salt-water solution will also kill zebra mussels.

Zebra mussels are most often found in water three- to 45-feet deep and are thumbnail-sized, but can grow up to two inches and have an elongated D-shaped, somewhat-pointed, thin shell with a zebra-like pattern of stripes. They are the only freshwater mussel that attaches to solid objects.

If you want to learn more about zebra mussels or any of the other invasive species causing problems, you can contact the Oklahoma Wildlife Department or the Army Corps of Engineers. Further information is available at www.protectyourwaters. net.

If you think you have discovered any invasive species, call (918) 200-4815 or report online at www. wildlifedepartment.com.

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John Kilgore is the former Greenleaf State Park manager. He can be reached by emailing him at jkilgoreoutdoors@yahoo.com.