Every year, my family goes to West Virginia for Labor Day. The cabin we stay in is on the creek, and creeks as we know, can offer hours, and hours, AND HOURS of entertainment. It's the goal of two particular boys/teenagers to catch and eat as many of the critters in that creek that they possibly can. Papaw offers lunker awards for the biggest fish caught, and they do spend lots of time fishing. And after they have wreaked their havoc on the fish population, their attention always turns to these nasty bottom dwellers.
Catching lots of crawdads can work up quite the appetite. And since these two particular boys/teenagers have "grand" appetites and a "grand"mother present, they're in luck. They would be in sore shape if they had to rely on their mothers to prepare this fine delicacy for them. Their grandmother knows all the tricks, like "purging" the crawdads. If you put salt in your bright yellow beach sand bucket full of bottom dwellers, you can force them to perform some not so desirable body functions. Which makes for some NASTY water, but quite clean crawdads. 
Next, you bring a large pot of water to a boil and place those poor, purged crawdads in it.
I think there's a certain amount of time that you boil crawdads but only grandmothers know that magic number. So, for our purposes, when they turn bright red they're done.
Then you drain the water.
Admire your handiwork.
And divvy up.
There's an art to eating crawdads but I'm sure we don't know it. These precious boys get the meat out using a combination of the lobster/crab legs technique.
They are all brave when these critters are dead. Next year, boys, I want you to try this when they're alive. Then we'll see how brave you are.
They think this is the best meal of the weekend.
Probably because they don't have to share.
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