A tall chimney

We've had a dry summer this year. Some streams have run dry because of it. Small ponds have also been affected by the drought.

On Oct. 26, I took this photo of a crawdad chimney. Crawdads at ponds will often dig a hole on land near the water and push out balls of mud, one ball at a time, building what is called a crawdad chimney. When the hole reaches down to water level, water from the pond will seep into the hole. The crawdad may then stop digging. But it will dig farther and farther if the water level drops.

Often crawdad holes will have no sign of a chimney. Rain will erode and wash away the chimney. This chimney was 21 inches high when I found it. When I checked on it Nov. 5 after a nighttime storm went through, it had been knocked down by rain and wind. It was the tallest crawdad chimney I have ever seen.