Monday, January 15, 2007

Don't you dare touch me!

In summer, tiny yellow crabs like this one are very common on the beach. You can guess from the sand grains that they're no more than a centimetre long. I managed to step in front of this little fellow before he had time to disappear in its hole. He then tried to escape sideways, all little legs fiddling left and right at high speed until, exhausted, he finally lost hope and faced me defiantly, awaiting his fate - which turned out to be no more than a click and a goodbye. Thanks, mate! - Pheew!
PS - see his Peruvian cousin here!

L'été, les minuscules crabes jaunes comme celui-ci sont légion. On le devine à la taille des grains de sable, ils ne font pas plus d'un centimètre. Bloquant le passage avec mes pieds, j'ai réussi à empêcher celui-ci de disparaître dans son trou. Il s'est alors mis à faire des zig-zags à toute vitesse pour m'échapper, tricotant de toutes ses petites pattes. Au bout d'une minute, épuisé, il s'est arrêté face à moi, attendant son sort dans une attitude de défi désespéré. Allons, merci pour la pose, un petit clic et tu es libre, l'ami ! - Ouf !
PS - voyez son cousin péruvien ici !

8 comments:

Bill said...

We were camped on South Padre Island of the coast of Texas a number of years ago. My wife was using a telescope out on the beach watching ships and such. My boys and I found a crab, and gentle nudges with a stick would get it to stand up and scurry about. Yea, boys are mean, but it was fascinating to watch. My wife started watching through the telescope. As it got a little closer, she needed to raise the eye piece. When she could go no higher, she stepped away form the telescope to find the crab was running right at her. She screamed, and jumped up into the motorhome. The crab simply sat under the step, and I imagine that it was just wanting to ask her what sort of boys she was raising!

Celine said...

Great job capturing such a little creature! I know how difficult it can be to do such photos.

Ben Nakagawa said...

Excellent!
Very sharp and nice texture if individual sand. Larger image is stunning!
It;s just great, Great job!

Unknown said...

sorry, but suddenly i thought of eating chilli crabs. haha...

do they bite when you are walking at the beach?

GiuCe said...

I like this crab, thanx for introducing its peruvian cousin ^^ (here: http://www.fotolog.com/giuce/?pid=10328478 there is another cousin)

Crabs are on the beach every day of the year...

Ming the Merciless said...

I haven't been to a beach in years and miss the relax nature of such holidays.

Great picture of the crab!!

Anonymous said...

je passe ...
un amical bonjour de Paris

Cergie said...

Tu as toujours un ton si alerte, et des mots si évocateurs: "tricoter"

Ce crabe me fait penser aux seuls qu'on a dans la nature à Cery, les "araignées crabes" qui prennent par mimétisme la couleur de leur fleur hôte.