McHenry County Blog

I got the boat in earlier this year than ever before.

My son and his junior high friends have been spending a lot of time at our Country Club Property Owners Property Owners Association’s Beach 7. Lots of sand, a raft, pretty warm days.

Zebra Mussels on a stick near Beach 7 on the south side of Crystal Lake.

Before launch date, he told me kids were getting their feet cut on zebra mussels.

I found my first zebra mussels while we had our pontoon boat anchored near the North Shore, where the bottom is rocky. That was July of 2008.

It’s pretty near the Crystal Lake Park District’s boat ramp, so I figured someone who doesn’t keep his boat on the lake had had it in Lake Michigan and decided to bring it into Crystal Lake for day.

How sad that he used such poor judgment.

A month later, they were on the south side of the lake. My son found them.

When I took the boat out last fall, I saw zebra mussels all over the pier poles.

And the photo you see here shows how the sharp-edged creatures covered a stick on the bottom of the lake.

The Crystal Lake City Council has certainly displayed good judgment in not allowing any boats to be brought onto Vulcan Lakes.

First ducks, then kids.

We were anchored off Crystal Lake’s North Shore about where the City of Crystal Lake employees were pumping water while Crystal Lake was at flood stage last year.

My son and his friend were diving for treasures at the shallow, rocky bottom.

And what did my son find?

Baby zebra mussels on rocks.

I found a larger one which was attached to a piece of seaweed.

My guess is that people who go wading where I did yesterday will have to wear rubber shoes in a couple of years or their feet will end up with lots of cuts from full grown zebra mussels.

My son’s friend found some native mussels.

They’ll probably be crowded out by the alien zebra mussels.

Click to enlarge any picture.

First ducks, then kids.

We were anchored off Crystal Lake’s North Shore about where the City of Crystal Lake employees were pumping water while Crystal Lake was at flood stage last year.

My son and his friend were diving for treasures at the shallow, rocky bottom.

And what did my son find?

Baby zebra mussels on rocks.

I found a larger one which was attached to a piece of seaweed.

My guess is that people who go wading where I did yesterday will have to wear rubber shoes in a couple of years or their feet will end up with lots of cuts from full grown zebra mussels.

My son’s friend found some native mussels.

They’ll probably be crowded out by the alien zebra mussels.

Click to enlarge any picture.

Before we left on vacation, my son found what appeared to be Zebra mussels at Gate 7 Beach in Lakewood on the south side of Crystal Lake.

A naturalist friend was over for dinner and I gave her samples to verify his identification.

The day after my son’s 11th birthday, we went to the beach and I found this shovel handle (no shovel, just the handle).

I called Crystal Lake Park District Director Kirk Reimer to ask if they had been found before.

He told me that Dick Vogelman had found them on his Shore Station two years ago. Vogelman lives at Gate 7 right next to the Country Club Property Owners boat launching ramp.

So, a plausible hypothesis might be that some CCAPOA boater was in Lake Michigan and didn’t clean the mussels off his boat before launching it in Crystal Lake.

As usual, the photo can be enlarged by clicking on it.

Before we left on vacation, my son found what appeared to be Zebra mussels at Gate 7 Beach in Lakewood on the south side of Crystal Lake.

A naturalist friend was over for dinner and I gave her samples to verify his identification.

The day after my son’s 11th birthday, we went to the beach and I found this shovel handle (no shovel, just the handle).

I called Crystal Lake Park District Director Kirk Reimer to ask if they had been found before.

He told me that Dick Vogelman had found them on his Shore Station two years ago. Vogelman lives at Gate 7 right next to the Country Club Property Owners boat launching ramp.

So, a plausible hypothesis might be that some CCAPOA boater was in Lake Michigan and didn’t clean the mussels off his boat before launching it in Crystal Lake.

As usual, the photo can be enlarged by clicking on it.