Travel with the Birds | The Amazing Terrestrial Crabs of the Florida Keys
(Edited)
While visiting the Florida Keys this month we were able to enjoy wonderful bike rides and hikes. Our hikes often took us along sandy paths which were inhabited by fascinating tropical terrestrial creatures.
Since today is Wednesday our walk will be perfect for our friend @tattoodjay’s #wednesdaywalk!
Join us as we visit the Terrestrial Crabs of the Florida Keys
It all began with a walk along the shores…
The Sea Oats were glistening with the golden sunset!
The birds were wading for dinner...
We found a sandy path, a welcomed bit of shade on a hot summer evening…
as we walked along we happened to notice quite a few holes in the sand along the path. They ranged in size from 3-6 inches in diameter, obviously a burrow for something... large!
Suddenly we noticed a chattering sound, rustling in the leaves!
There on the left, a quick glimpse of something!
It’s a Terrestrial Land Crab!
The Terrestrial Crab cardisoma guanhimi or Blue land crab is a tropical crab. This crab is found from Brazil through the Caribbean to the Gulf of Mexico in Florida.
The Blue Land Crab…
can range in color from brown, to dark blue to light gray. They may grow up to 6 inches in size and weigh up to 18 oz.
Look at that giant claw!
Called a dimorphic claw, this claw can grow up to 6 inches in length. This claw is often larger than the crab itself!
The eyes were everywhere!
The eyes are stalked and boy were they interesting! Blue or grey, they’re on high alert! The females are generally light gray or white with juveniles being brown with orange legs.
As omnivores, they eat leaves!
Gathering them with their claws and scurrying back to their burrows. Preferring shade rather than sun, they often come out at dusk to eat! The locate their food with light and sound detectors. Vibrations in the soil, falling leaves all are food source indicators. Evidently we were interrupting dinner time for all the local creatures!
We decided it was time to move on, dusk was upon us. One last glimpse of the moon before we called it a night!
Nature is so beautiful, marvelous and mysterious. Listening to the sounds around us, the waves and birds, we slept soundly. Amidst the chattering Terrestrial Crabs of the Florida Keys!
Thanks for joining us on our Wednesday Walk! Take a moment, get outside and take a walk! You'll love what you find!
And as always, blessings to you all!
0
0
0.000
what a nice time by the water and seeing all those cool things the birds and those crabs its amazing how big their claws can get
Thanks for joining Wednesday Walk :)
It's so fun to see the wildlife. Truly beautiful, and of course the beach and sand :) Thanks @tattoodjay, love your #wednesdaywalk!
Ohh I bet, Lets hope the Keys do OK and do not get hit to hard by Dorian
What a lovely Wednesday walk, you got some lovely shots of the beach creatures! I would not try and catch one of those crabs;) Interesting the different colours they have and what a funny green type of lizard that is! Nature's wonderful indeed!
Thank you @lizelle. I definitely left these little guys alone, although tey move so fast they were quickly out of reach, lol The lizards were everywhere on this trip, colors beautiful!
What a nice addition to a walk. I love unexpected nature showing themselves off. Almost as if they are saying 'Don't forget I exist' You pictures are amazing.
I know, its fun @tryskele :) Between the crabs and lizards they were popping up everywhere. The chatter from the crabs was crazy! Definitely making their presence known. Thanks so much!
This post was shared in the Curation Collective Discord community for curators, and upvoted and resteemed by the @c-squared community account after manual review.
@c-squared runs a community witness. Please consider using one of your witness votes on us here
Thank you @c-squared, truly appreciate the curation :)
Thanks for taking us with you! What wonderful photos!
You are most welcome @felt.buzz! It was fun to capture the essence of the park, nature is fun and always providing unexpected shots!
Lovely walk! Great pictures of the colorful inhabitants!
Posted using Partiko iOS
Thank you @cindyhartz, glad you enjoyed my walk. Of course nature always provides beautiful surprises :)
It is wonderful to just watch the creatures along the shoreline. Those pincers on the crab looks like it could give you a painful pinch if you mess around with it. I got pinched once when I was a kid poking into one of those crab holes.
Those pinchers could definitely pack a powerful pinch, lol Although they are so shy they bolt for home pretty quickly. I wish you could have seen the area, hundreds of holes of all sizes, I can't imagine what it looks like after dark!!! Some were so large, I can't imagine the size of the resident crab!
I remember when I was on fishing with my dad and we woke up with 3 crabs in our backpack, lol! That was crazy and exciting at the same time but I can't imagine myself eating these creatures
Oh my goodness!!!!! What a shock that would be to find 3 crabs in your backpack,lol Luckily it wasn't in your sleeping area! :) I couldn't imagine eating them either...they're too beautiful. So fun to watch too.
What spectacular photos! Especially the main photo, which I initially thought was a big spider. I have a phobia of spiders, and once I realised it was a crab, I thought it looked beautiful! I love that violet blue colour, and that bright green iguana! Gorgeous. The photo of the moon is so beautiful too. What a lovely colourful place that must be.
Thank you @natubat! I had so much fun taking pictures, it's so beautiful and definitely a special spot we love visiting time and time again. Now that we have discovered a great bike path we'll be back more often. I too am not fond of spiders, I hope my photo didn't frighten you too much :) (I can't imagine the spiders you discover on your hikes!!!)
Actually I don't mind spiders so much when I'm outside and not trapped in a room with them! And the ones you see on the hills are often quite interesting and very different from the horrible hairy house spiders that I really hate!
This post has been manually curated by PhotoStream: The Photography Tribe!
these photos are great! thx for sharing!😄
Hello!
This post has been manually curated, resteemed
and gifted with some virtually delicious cake
from the @helpiecake curation team!
Much love to you from all of us at @helpie!
Keep up the great work!
Manually curated by @enchantedspirit.
@helpie is a Community Witness.
For more information about our project,
please visit this month’s UPDATE post.
Thank you @helpiecake and @enchantedspirit :) Ooooo, you know chocolate is my favorite, what a delicious gift!
Some great creatures here my friend and mother nature never ceases to surprise.
We also have some huge land crabs here but they are also in danger of poachers.
A beautiful post indeed!
Blessings!
I know, isn't it fun. I think we have a "crab season" down here and they're always citing people who capture them out of season. That's too bad they're poached in your area, they're delightful creatures. Frankly I wouldn't want to eat them! They're too beautiful! Thanks @papilloncharity :) Blessings!
A MAGICAL post! Loved the up close and personal with the crabs... and that whole beachy-island-tropical vibe you managed to convey. Made my mermaid self feel quire wilted up here in Asia, 800km the sea. :( Vitamin Sea is required.
Leading the curation trail for both @ecotrain & @eco-alex.
Together We’re Making This World A Better Place.
Click Here To Join the manually curated trail "@artemislives" to support quality eco-green content.
@ecoTrain
lol, thank you @artemislives, what a sweet and kind comment!! It is a magical place, we love visiting the state parks. Nature always provides surprises and comfort to the weary traveler. I can just see you....a mermaid :)
Looks like you had an amazing time. Walking along a beach is always a great way to enjoy the day.
We did! Thank you @enjar :) We love nature and visiting the Keys is always a special time. As you know Florida has so many amazing State parks, I don't think we'll ever be able to visit all of them!
I think land crabs should not be ashamed that they don't live under the sea with sea crabs.
They are quite shy @abitcoinskeptic. Perhaps that's the problem, they're missing their cousins under the sea. They do go to the sea to lay their eggs though so they're not far from home!
Wicked awesomesauce, @birdsinparadise! I love how you interspersed the info about the crabs between all those amazing captures! What an amazingly wonderful walk (and nice of the moon to come along)!
lol Thank you @traciyork :) You know how it is taking pictures..you just can't stop! A truly fun place and the moon was a neat surprise at the end of the day!
Yep, I hear that, @birdsinparadise! LOL! And you're very welcome. 😊