I absolutely love animals. Mammals, birds, reptiles, you name it. Even insects (with the exception of roaches). My specialty is cats, and three felines indeed share our home. Left to my own devices, I’d also be keeping dogs, birds, fish, reptiles and a tarantula – but IsraeliDad drew the line at cats.
A special treat is seeing animals in nature and even better is a chance at interacting with them somehow. Nature, for that matter, can be our backyard, where the occasional hedgehog, turtle or chameleon show up and make me and the kids very happy. So, finding these on our hike this morning, within a couple of miles of our home was so cool -
Mind you, we weren’t walking along the beach. We were strolling along the peaceful paths of the coastal plain, approximately 12 kilometers away from any beach. These crabs are not salt water crustaceans anyway – they are sweet water critters and thus a rare sight in our area. We saw two of them along the trail – both walking on the dirt road (sideways too!) and they really made my morning!
Ok, so maybe they are not that strange, but the title of this post was supposed to reflect another tale I was about to share about the “catrat” we found in an army base one day. I’ll save that story for next time.
on Nov 6th, 2009 at 2:19 pm
If you ask me it looks like a strange crossing between a chocolate frog and a small alien. Does it have only one jump in its lifetime?
Oh, and I remember the catrat story, funny
on Nov 9th, 2009 at 2:17 pm
That was very brave of you to pick him/her up! Did it try to snap at you? Where I live in Wales (Ceredigion) in early summer there are a couple of secluded beaches (that you can only reach by a long walk on foot along the coastal path) that attract these huge crabs – it’s quite a sight indeed and well worth the long track. I make sure I go every year to watch them. They are huge monsters lol.
on Nov 9th, 2009 at 2:35 pm
Wow, Marie, that sounds so unique. When is your early summer? My brother lives not too far away from Wales (in Shropshire). If we get to visit in the right time of year, I’d love to go see those crabs.
These ones were so cute, I decided crabs are favorite animals of mine now
The big one did try to snap at me, but I found out that if I approach it from the back he can’t do anything. I didn’t want to stress it out though, so just took them off the road and then let them be.
on Nov 11th, 2009 at 8:45 am
Early summer here on this part of the coast is about late May, though summers here have been eratic for the last 5 year – global warming maybe?
Anyway, Shropshire is probably about a 4 hour drive (if you use the M4 along south Wales, or you could go across the Cambrian or Brecon Beacon mountains, longer drive, but views are worth it
lol!). Pen Bryn on the Ceredigion coast is a more accessible beach where I have seen them at that time, but in fewer numbers. There is a coastal path to Llangrannog (and beyond all the way to Snowdonia) where you’ll find a number of hidden coves, secluded beaches and woodlands.
Actually, at this time of year, seals are more commonly seen; it’s just past the seal pupping season, but they still hang around the beaches for a bit, so getting a glimpse is relatively easy.
Anyway, I digress
I’m fond of crabs also. but I wouldn’t dare pick up some of the ones I have seen, mainly because they are big! And the smaller ones are too fast lol! But they are fascinating creatures.
Thanks for sharing your pics
on Nov 24th, 2009 at 8:20 am
OK, I’m getting fascinated by your interactions with critters (reading backwards from last post to first). I’m an animal lover with five “fe-lions,” as we call the cats.
Like you, I approach nearly any animal and try to make friends. I would have been al over these little guys, too … but my photos would not have been nearly as good!
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