Triops

I was away from Rensselaer for most of last week, enjoying adventures in babysitting. While I was out of town, I had the opportunity to see and catch some triops. They were living in a pool in western Utah that had filled with recent rain water and the locals said that they had not seen them for about ten years.

 The water was muddy so they were hard to see unless they were near the surface. But there were so many of them that they were easy to catch.

They are sometimes called tadpole shrimp.

The name triops refers to their three eyes.

The triops that we caught were active for a bit more than a day and then they died. Triops are sold as pets, so if you want your own, you can probably buy some. Hopefully you will have better luck with them than we did.

As the pool dries up, the triops will lay eggs that can survive extreme conditions for many years. Perhaps it will be another ten years before conditions are right for them to hatch and they will again fill the pond. (Here is a short video that tells more about this weird creature.)

It is good to be back in Rensselaer. When I left, it felt like July. When I got back it felt like November. What a difference a week can make.