Gilbert, SC (WLTX) - Hurricane Michael brought high winds and some flooding to the Midlands, but for a few people on Lake Murray it brought out an unusual critter.
"I was expecting pinecones and branches, but I got crawfish," Peggy Breeland said.
Many have been cleaning their yards after the storm barreled through South Carolina, but Peggy Breeland was cleaning up unusual debris.
"We have crawfish crawling over the yard and I thought, oh you're just kidding me and my son is showing me this adorable picture and I was like oh my gosh and we went out and just started walking and looking at them, just fascinated," Breeland said.
Peggy and her family live on Lake Murray and said this was the first time they noticed they had these critters so close by.
"There were so many, at least 12 in the front yard 12 in the backyard in the drainage pipes, in the ditches they were everywhere. Just tons of them they were everywhere," Anderson Breeland said. "It was really nice to see just a bunch of cute little critters coming out to get out of the storm water and take refuge in our nice little grass."
Ross Self with the Department of Natural Resources is not surprised. He said after storms it is not unusual for these burrowing crawfish to become more noticeable.
"When we have storm events or wet weather it creates conditions at the surface that are conducive to those critters coming up to the surface and grazing around those burrows," Self said. "It raises the water level in the burrow a little bit, so they're a little closer to the surface after storms.
Christina Kerr also got a visit from the crawfish and she said they make for a tasty treat.
"Yes, they can be eaten," Kerr said. "We aren't Louisiana style so I"m very sure that's a spicy mixture."
But watch out for their pinchers if they do end up crawling around your yard.
"My dog stuck his nose in one of the trenches and got a little shock," Kerr said.
South Carolina is home to 37 different types of crawfish species, these burrowing crawfish are not noticed that often, so it was a nice surprise for Peggy Breeland and her neighbor to see get these critters instead of typical storm debris in their yards.