I have figured out how Linda and I can make some side money. The beauty of it is we literally do not have to do ANYTHING to earn it, simply stay home for a set period of time during the month of January. Before you get any wrong ideas…it is legal.. at least I think. I’ll let you in on the secret as this business is based on something that isn’t transferable or subject to hostile takeovers….at least I think. The working name for or LLC is “Cold Prevention Limited”. Premise, those enjoying the south will pay us to STAY home minimally the month of January. Last year we brought Texas an ice and snow storm that took them out for weeks. This year, we just fled San Antonio as they were bracing for 20mph winds, freezing temps and sleet. Trying to get below the frost line, we made it back to balmy South Padre Island. That would be a Midwest balmy 46 degrees with 25mph winds. Locals are bundled up like they have tickets to watch Woolly Mammoths juggle Penguins.
All preventable, of course. Pay your Cold Prevention Limited Club fee (annual of course) and Linda and I agree to say in the broke state of IL during the winter months. Our bad karma stays out of your state and you get to enjoy the seasonably warm weather you have come to expect. Our toes will be cold, but we can snuggle in our blankets made out of hundred dollar bills. For today, need to get this post finished up before a horde of campers march on us with torches and pitchforks!
Hit the jump to find out more about this crusty creature above.
Going with something a little different for today’s post. No feathers in our feature – hell, not even sure it has toes!
Birds I am pretty good with, got feathers, a bill, two wings .. willing to bet it belongs to the Aves class. Crustaceans are a completely different story. Coupled with the fact I know absolutely zero about species specifics, these moving jumbles of calcium completely creep me out. Really, just look at this thing.
Why do they creep me out, let me count the ways. First off, basic high school biology taught me the eyes are key to food chain order. Predators front and center, victims more to the side. This creature apparently has the ability to watch its own back. Took a few shots from the front and thought I would sneak behind it and get some closer shots.. was not expecting it to simply rotate those peepers right around with me. basically seeing 360, Sure, there are Owls, but they have ONE neck.
Next, their movement mechanics are just wrong. Ministry of Silly Walks has nothing on these creatures. This may be human projecting, but if I see a pair of eyes, I expect its primary movement to be forward or directly behind them. Imagine my surprise when this darted out directly opposite that assumption. Took off on a direct line to my right – pretty much staring right at me the entire time. Shivers.
Finally caught up with it and took a few more snaps before it proceeded to “sink” into the sand. No shoveling, no pushing, no excavation tools pulled out from a secret compartment in its shell – nope, just effortless and calmly lowered itself into the sand.
lower and lower and lower…what unnatural hellspawn is this Mr. Crusty!?!
Yes, I see you there. Don’t even get me started on the fact they do not seem to even have toes. The wise Socrates once said, “Never trust anything that doesn’t have toes”. Words to live by people!
Thank god I am out of shots so I can end this nightmare. As a quick background, our crab here .. think it is a crab, pretty sure it is a crab, “Hey Linda, does this look like a crab to you?” – “Yes, you have crabs”..okaaay, our crab comes to you courtesy of Dauphin Island. In fact, it was found right near the Osprey perch mentioned in the previous post. This time we came at it from the beach side (down from Fort Gaines). One of the few areas that I would consider truly accessible beach on the island. Going out on a limb here, but my best guess is today’s feature is a Ghost Crab. A more confident answer would require endless hours of research. Research that involves looking at countless pictures of these creatures. Creatures that, remember, creep me out. Not gonna do it!!! Feel free to correct my hunch in the comments – no pictures please ha! Oh, and I might have taken some liberties with the Socrates quote.
Wildlife Intrigued 
Enjoyed the story, love the crab shots!
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Thank you Donna – it did creep me out, but I did enjoy taking the shots of this crusty creature.
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That’s an adorable crab. I got crabs at Dick’s Last Resort in Dallas many years ago.
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Ha, we recently walked by a a Dick’s Last Resort while checking out the river walk in downtown San Antonio. Based on experiences in the Luxor at Vegas opted to not have dinner wearing a large white hat with male genitalia on it. Instead had a bad experience trying to get served at Countyline BBQ and ended up eating at the Hard Rock. Guess you can say we got “crabby” at the BBQ place. Appreciate you coming by Timothy.
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We have Rudy’s Roadkill BBQ out here. They have enticing entries like chunk of skunk, shake and bake snake, Twice squashed squirrel (it’s really tender), and Dodge grilled deer. It’s pretty good, but you need to order hours ahead to get anything. I’m not sure what’s up with BBQ joints and their long wait times.
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Now that is a unique BBQ joint! If Linda saw that snake item on the menu we would have to leave IMMEDIATELY … and now, it doesn’t matter how dead it is ha!
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That is why it is 28 degrees this morning down here, but I refuse to stay inside. We went for a bike ride yesterday even though it was only 38 deg and that was a cold ride.
These guys do creep me out, because they remind me of spiders scurrying across the sand, I did not see any like this on the beach, they were all the little white ones that look more like spiders.
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Sorry for that! We took the day off today due to the wind and spitting rain here on the coast. The camera body and Beast is sealed, but I don’t like to get the glass mucked up if I can help it. Hopefully we can get back at it tomorrow when the rains subside. I didn’t get to see the spider-like ones while we were down there – will have to put that on my list to check out when we are back there. Glad you to hear you still made it out in the cold!
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Very “nice” photos of the crab. Reminds me of a much small version on the mid Pacific islands. They like to dig burrows before sun up each morning, throwing the excavated sand down rival burrows. But then when the sun crests the horizon all digging stops for a minute or three until the sun is surrounded by sky. All the while I’m balancing a cup of green tea with honey and a camera. BTW, it’s always warm there, you and Linda should try it sometime.
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That that paints a great picture! Some day we plan on getting down there… some day. Is there something special going on before the sun makes it completely up that makes them stop? How odd. Guessing this talk of the “cold” is making you laugh back home….”Did Brian really just claim 40s is cold!?!” Texas is making us soft hehehehe.
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Nice little crab. Those eyes are creepy. As for your business model if you can get people to pay you to stay at home, I would say, go for it! Our problem seems to be rain, maybe if you are successful we can do an off shoot? 😂
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Hey, if this all works out we could could convert from a “limited” to a world-wide corporation – just find the cursed person(s) in each country and put them on the payroll. The more I think about it, we could also expand our services and use our “talents” in reverse. Farmers need rain.. send in the rain person, getting too hot in the desert during the summer months.. send in the cold person. I think it is time to go into the Shark Tank and get me some working capital!
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I support! Great idea to use our special talents in a helpful and profitable way. Been trying for 12 years since my retirement to find my Golden Fleece, I will be waiting for my first assignment.😂🤣
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I have to clear it with my legal team, start working on individual curse assessments and get this ball rolling!
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👍
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I have never seen crabs before and it was interesting to study this particular crab. It’s certainly the very active crab and his eyes are so different, so fascinating. I would be scared being close to this creature but my guess is that it’s harmless.
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Honestly, I didn’t feel like I was any danger, although since it didn’t have toes it might have given me a false sense of security knowing I could out run it – not sideways though ha. This is probably the first time I’ve really had a chance to photograph this particular crab. Most of my other encounters consisted of seeing it, raising my camera up to my eye only to find it had “disappeared” somewhere – now I finally now where it went!! Take care Sandra.
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Intriguing little guy – and good photos of his handsome coloration, and disappearing act. He better hope he doesn’t catch the eye of a Yellow-crowned Night Heron 🙂
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You are right on the YCNH front – on the plus side this crab was enjoying the sand during the heat of the day when those Herons are busy snoozing. FYI, went back and got that “special” bird again today, this time with slightly better light – also got another surprise lifer I wasn’t expecting today thanks to a tip Linda found buried in another blog she found … going to be a good year of posting from me for sure! Thanks for dropping by Sam!
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Really enjoyed these crab photos, Ron.
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Thanks Jet, while I was technically crabbing the whole time, it was actually a fun shoot. Just as a note this is Brian, Ron is actually my brother, but we are often out birding together and I often reference him here probably leading to the confusion. Appreciate you dropping by Jet and really enjoyed your last collection of birds – always seeing brand new birds on your site.
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Thanks for the clarification and nice note, Brian.
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I missed this post from January. We actually had similar experiences visiting Big Sur, CA (where we caused flooding rains & land slides so bad that PCH had to be closed) and on a cruise from South Florida (where we caused winds so bad that they ripped a tree out of the 5th floor “ground” while way out at sea.) So, yes, once you figure out the licensing for that job, please share! And your little crab is adorable . . . From a distance! 🌞
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I think we are on to something here. Apparently CJ can cover the Netherlands, Linda and I definitely have the Texas area covered and we can hire you for the east and west coasts. Do a few cross-references of catastrophes in the northern half of the states for a candidate there (maybe check out Indeed for resumes). May have to get my horde of lawyers to write up a few limited liability contracts as we couldn’t guarantee nothing would happen if we stayed home, just that it wouldn’t be as bad ha. Sign there, stamp here and then we sit back, feet on the desk and watch the money pour in from families who spend a lot of money on trips and want extra insurance the weather conditions will be decent. Pure gold I tell ya! I will admit, I did appreciate the long glass when photographing that Crab! Appreciate you coming by Lisa. Apologies as per my latest post, I’ve been delayed in responding to all my comments.
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Perfect! LOL! 🌞
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