The Crabs Meet an Untimely Fate

So yesterday on the beach the kids collected some cool shells, the only problem being the shells were occupied. Another beach-goer helpfully let us know that it was easy to get the crabs out of the shells if you boil them, and use a  pair of tweezers or pliers to pull the crab out ("It comes out really easily," he assured me). So, not really pausing to think about the act of boiling a crab to death and then pulling it out of its shell, I told the kids they could keep the shells and we'd boil them at home.

The kids were very happy about this, and we put the shells into a plastic bag to keep them until we got home. I left the bag on the kitchen counter when we got home last night, having decided that I didn't feel like dealing with them until we got home to Charlotte. This morning when I went into the kitchen I immediately noticed that the bag was tipped on its side, empty. Uh oh. The crabs, sensing their fate, had tried to make a break for it. I called the kids in and we hunted all over the kitchen and dining room until we located all four of them. After that we kept a closer eye on them, until after we got home and I couldn't delay the inevitable any longer. I told the kids to go get their crabs. They produced three of them, and after persistently asking them where the other one was, they eventually located it. ("Where was it?" "In Miller's driveway").

So after apologizing to each crab individually I dropped them into boiling water and then used pliers to pull the crabs out. It is worth mentioning that the thought of a shell-less crab is totally disgusting to me, and when we had a hermit crab as a pet as a kid I used to have nightmares about it coming all the way out of its shell. Just totally gives me the heebee geebees. Anyway, I successfully got 3 of them out, trying not to look at them closely. The fourth one unfortunately, may be a bit stuck in there. I don't think all of it came out.

YUCK!!! The kids were very happy with their shells, though.