The million hermit crab march

news.yahoo.com...

Surfaced by the blog Presurfer, a video catches the movement of "millions and millions" of hermit crabs migrating en masse across the beach at Nanny Point on Saint John, captured by photographer Steve Simonsen.

The land-based crabs, also known as soldier crabs, live inside salvaged sea shells they carry on their backs. They are known for a large claw that will give you a pinch or stave off a predator, scavenge for food at the water's edge and are the ones sold in pet stores in the U.S. One is kind of cute. Millions? Less so.

That looks sooo awesome. These crabs are migrating across a beach on Saint John...en masse.

If I could, I would totally set up a chair and drink a few cold ones while watching these little critters blanket the entire beach. (It's also kind of funny watching one of them fall off the rocks and tumble down).

reply to post by buni11687


Waiting for someone to scream.........CRAB ZOMBIES!!!!!!!!!

reply to post by buni11687
Just love it! I've never seen this before. Thanks, OP

Love it. I believe there's another species of crab that does this and travels over a major highway....

reply to post by stonebutterfly




Here Ya Go.

LUNCH !

Not much meat but edible.

I'd paint one at the back bright blue and come back a few hours later to see how far it moved.

Reminds me of the time me and a friend found about 50 soft shell crabs just sitting around on some rocks. We easily filled a large Igloo ice chest and took them home and ate them. Just walked up and picked them up with our hands, no crab net needed.

reply to post by lonegurkha


Thank you! I just love watching that. Nature is so beautiful....

reply to post by JohnPhoenix


You didn't eat these things. They turn to slime. I have a buddy that tried his damdest to cook them up in fact the photographer Steve is a friend of mine from when I owned a restaurant on St. John in the USVI where this was filmed. A woman Steve knows gave him call and said she witnessed this and he came with the camera.

Hermit crabs are so cute! I love how they feel around and choose a new shell.. To see so many at once would be awesome. I wonder if they have shell envy?

Hermit Crab Shell Change

Originally posted by newcovenant
reply to post by JohnPhoenix

 

You didn't eat these things. They turn to slime. I have a buddy that tried his damdest to cook them up in fact the photographer Steve is a friend of mine from when I owned a restaurant on St. John in the USVI where this was filmed. A woman Steve knows gave him call and said she witnessed this and he came with the camera.

Yes he could have. He said soft shell crabs.. Ive eaten them MANY times.. and I too have gotten them at low tide. You usually bread and fry them. Hermit crabs are not soft shell crabs.

Originally posted by Advantage

Originally posted by newcovenant
reply to post by JohnPhoenix

 

You didn't eat these things. They turn to slime. I have a buddy that tried his damdest to cook them up in fact the photographer Steve is a friend of mine from when I owned a restaurant on St. John in the USVI where this was filmed. A woman Steve knows gave him call and said she witnessed this and he came with the camera.

Yes he could have. He said soft shell crabs.. Ive eaten them MANY times.. and I too have gotten them at low tide. You usually bread and fry them. Hermit crabs are not soft shell crabs.

For clarification, I ate the soft shell crabs not the hermit crabs but i understand they are edible, you just don't get much from them.

I have never had breaded and fried crab. I bread and fry tons of fish. Down here crabs are almost always eaten the right way - ( LOL) by boiling them in a mixture of spicy hot crab boil with lots of onions, garlic, small red potatoes and corn. Some call it a crab boil. All call it a party in your mouth.

Originally posted by Advantage

Originally posted by newcovenant
reply to post by JohnPhoenix

 

You didn't eat these things. They turn to slime. I have a buddy that tried his damdest to cook them up in fact the photographer Steve is a friend of mine from when I owned a restaurant on St. John in the USVI where this was filmed. A woman Steve knows gave him call and said she witnessed this and he came with the camera.

Yes he could have. He said soft shell crabs.. Ive eaten them MANY times.. and I too have gotten them at low tide. You usually bread and fry them. Hermit crabs are not soft shell crabs.

Who said they were the same? "You didn't eat these things" was my comment and if you will recall the OP's video was of marching HERMIT CRABS. They are as different as night and day. I've eaten soft shell crabs - many times. On the islands they even eat soldier crabs but they purge them first since they are scavengers - feed them cornmeal until it's time for the pot. To correct you, I said the "hermit crabs" are inedible, and they are. Again, a friend of mine tried to cook them thinking there's at least some meat in the large claw but all he got out of it was a slimy goo. I suppose you could eat that.