Mucho Cangrejos (crabs)

Today's adventure - crabs! C wasn't feeling well today, so Bill stayed behind while G and I went to the playa (beach) to take photos of the day's progress.

One of our workers had his family at the beach enjoying the breeze, and had caught some crabs in a bucket (yep, just like the saying). G was so excited! Real Crabs! The family was so entertained by his enthusiasm the children took G to show him how to catch them.
They were, of course, experts and G was anxious to jump in. They burrow in the sand next to our retaining wall, so they are easy targets. They poke at the little burrows with a stick and get them to come out fighting. Next, they either gently step on them, or cover them with half a soda (pop) bottle to trap them. Then they grab each claw so they can't be pinched and tada! Crab caught. G had so much fun! The crabs are smaller than the ocean ones, though they can get as large as a man's closed fist. The smaller ones are actually better eating (we found out later) because the exoskeleton is softer, and when you boil or fry them - you can just eat the whole thing. They showed us how to clean them (I'll spare you that pic) and prepare them for cooking. G saved 2 from being killed and cleaned to keep as a temporary pet.

Ok, why a pet crab? Well, I decided why not, they can learn more about them, and C would have the chance to see them live. They cut a slit in the side of a 2 litre bottle, bend it and pop the crab in. The lid comes off, and the crab can't reach the claw outside of the top of the bottle, so no one gets pinched and they get to watch these crabs roll bottles on the floor like hamster wheels.

Our cats were very curious about the seafood smelling popbottles that rolled around the floor, but only curious. Maybe they were too old to really go after them. The next day, we let the crabs go, They will be dinner another day.