Quagga

[drjohn71a]

Sorry , Roger, I just thought you'd be more up on the latest biology!

Jeff.... Thanks so much for your informative posts! Maybe you could answer some questions that have come to me regarding the Zebra mussel invasion here in the Kansas/Oklahoma area.

Clear lakes vs. muddy lakes: One of our best local bass lakes, El Dorado Lake, is very deep (for Kansas), very clear (by Kansas standards), and rocky (rare in most of Kansas). For some reason, that lake has the worst infestation of Zebra mussels anywhere around here. They are so bad, you can cut your feet just wading around the shoreline.

Just 25 miles South is Cheney Lake, Wichita's largest water reservoir. It is shallow, muddy, has had problems with fertilzer/cattle product runoff, and blossoms with algae off an on over the summer. It, too, has Zebra mussels, but they just don't seem to flourish there for some reason. Maybe the sand and mud?

Zebra mussels have now spread to Kaw Lake, OK, and even the intercoastal waterway out of Tulsa, OK, but they don't seem to be the severe problem that they have been here in El Dorado Lake.

Do you know what makes them thrive in some areas more than others?

John