Dismembered crab carcasses litter the trail that runs through the salt marsh. Seagulls fly onto the trail to crack open and eat crabs found in the marsh. Although Rock Crabs are most common, Green Crabs are also on the seagulls’ menu. Sometimes cracked Northern Moon Snail shells can be found as well, remnants of a tasty breakfast.
Although Rock Crabs can run sideways at great speed, and are masterful at wedging themselves between the rocks along the shore, they are still easily caught by the seagulls. These crabs are most active at night.
Crabs are Decapods, having five pairs of legs. Their abdomens are small and curled under their bodies. They share the lobsters’ marvelous ability to regenerate legs, claws, eyes or antennae. They are predators and scavengers, eating dead creatures found on the bottom of the marsh and sea. Common prey are starfish, sea urchins and other crabs. Crab shells fade in the sunlight, becoming a light orange color over time.
Neither Green nor Rock Crabs are consumed by people in Nova Scotia. Snow Crabs, more common in Cape Breton, are the type usually eaten here.
July 6, 2009 at 6:14 am
While I haven’t had much crab, I loved having fresh lobster right on the pier, straight from the cooker in the cannery. Haven’t had much of it since I moved away. Too expensive, I guess.
July 6, 2009 at 11:16 am
Am suddenly really really hungry for crab. Or maybe lobster. (Haven’t had it in years, either, Joan!) Maybe it’s just because it’s almost lunch time.
July 6, 2009 at 1:48 pm
Lobster prices are lower here than they’ve been in years Joan. I wonder if prices might be lower elsewhere too.
Hope you had a tasty lunch of crustaceans Kathy
July 6, 2009 at 4:10 pm
I find crabs such odd-looking creatures, although strangely attractive (perhaps because they’re the animal associated with my star sign?!). Personally, I think they’re far more attractive than lobsters, which give me the shivers with their long antennae that they wave around and their massive front pincers, which can give a nasty nip.
When I was growing up, and during the season, my uncles and cousins used to bring bags of crayfish to my gran. I hated the way you had to boil them live… it always felt so sickeningly cruel. And at some stage in my youth, after years of eating them on special occasions, I discovered that I had developed an allergy to all shellfish, which made me go all feverish and wheezy, so now I have to avoid them.
I still remember their very unique taste though – the salty taste of the sea, and the soft white meat that separated so neatly into chunks when they were well done. And combine that with a little bit of sweet juicy pineapple, or an avocado with lemon, salt and pepper…. Ahhhhh…. Yummmm.
July 6, 2009 at 4:25 pm
The first time I realised that seagulls did this, I was amazed as I had not thought they were all that intelligent.
They do it here as well, but mostly with sea urchins, from what I have observed.
July 6, 2009 at 4:33 pm
I have no idea why those crabs look delicious. They are crawly things. You tell me that they are not eaten by civilized Nova Scotians. Nonetheless . . .
July 7, 2009 at 7:58 am
Reggie, I find both crab and lobster claws intimidating. You have to grab them by the tail. I’m sure crabs know this, and that’s probably why the ones I’ve found live in tidepools wedge their back ends into available rocks, making them impossible to grab without getting pinched.
I’ve never liked the idea of dunking a live lobster into boiling water either. Never had them with pineapple but have had crab with avocado. So many people are allergic to seafood. I wonder if it has something to do with what the lobsters and crabs eat.
Eldrid, those seagulls are pretty smart when it comes to finding food. They eat the sea urchins here and crack them open by dropping them on rocks.
Gerry, we have quite a variety of crabs in Nova Scotia and the connoisseurs of such edibles have decided that some are more palatable and meatier than others. They’re not just crawly things, they’re also bottom feeders, which means they’re not eaten by a lot of people. Before the 1800s, lobsters and crabs were mostly eaten by the poor.