Winter Creek Collecting For Scarlet Shiners

I went out yesterday to Limestone Creek in Madison County, AL, to collect live yearling scarlet shiners for our developing experiment on the influence of 11-ketotestosterone on brain growth. We also collected an equal number, ~50, to examine growth rates in this creek. Andrew, Daniel, and Sandi were game for running around in 8 deg. C water which is about as cold as it gets here. I should say that we had waders. Air temperature was about 6 deg. C, with bright sunshine. All of the shiners intended for the experiment got to the lab alive, although 5 of them were dead this afternoon and joined their comrades in a jar of 10% phosphate buffered formaldehyde for measurement and gut contents examination. As expected, the species is niche-specific: We caught most of the fish swimming at the surface in a relatively deep flowing pool just downstream from the bridge.

The original plan was to go collecting today at Estill Fork in Jackson County, AL, in the hills near the Walls of Jericho property to collect yearling scarlet shiners to study their growth there in comparison to Limestone Creek. But we wimped out at the prospect of snow this morning and temperatures just above freezing. We guessed right, there were snow showers and even in Huntsville it was a cold, wintery day. So, we'll go out on Monday instead when the temperatures will be warmer with no snow. My biggest fear about snow at Estill Fork would be getting trapped up the Paint Rock River valley, since the one road into the area from the south is prone to icing which makes it impassable. And I admit I was glad not to go seining in the snow with a cold wind blowing.