CRABS THAT STEAL BOOTS

Hawera Star, Volume L, 10 January 1931, Page 9

CRABS THAT STEAL BOOTS

TP you are addicted to the disli of "winkles—which can now bo eaten by quite nice people if called Escargots de Hoche—you will be familiar with the Hermit crab. It is lii-co a tiny lobster with a soft, baggy tail. Imagine a hermit as big as a bulldog, with no visible tail, and you have a coco-nut- crab, two of which have just been sent from the East Indies by Mr Goodman to the Zoo insect house in London.

Wild stories have been current about this crab ever since it was discovered about a century ago, but mere is no doubt it docs actually shin up tall cocopalms, throw down the nuts and after lining its burrow with fibre, break in the “eye” holes and extract the meat.

In default of green coco-nuts or sago pith, the Zoo crabs are doing well on boiled rice. Not that they are alto-

Climbing Trees for Coconuts

gether vegetarians; a dead rat is niueappreciated. Though living miles inland, the female of the species makes an annual pilgrimage to the sea, where her eggs hatch out into goblin prawns that later crawl ashore as perfect little robbers.

Why “robber”? Well, a crab that can escape from a tin box by punching holes in it and deliberately drag a man’s shaving kit into its den almost deserves the term. This last happened to a zoo agent, and it was the sight of one of his boots apparently trying to force its way down a.crab’s burrow that gave him the clue to the whereabouts of the rest of his missing property.

This crab is a bit of a cat-burglar, too, for it will carry stolen goods far inland and struggle with them up the face of a steep cliff.