Life is diverse, we know that, but even with all our assumptions, some things do surprise us because we could never imagine them to be so.
The Coconut Crab inhabits the Indo-pacific islands, and can grow upto 40 cm and can weigh as much as 4 kg, so it is big, in fact, the biggest Crab in the world, I think.
What it does is, it likes Coconuts. It comes out at night, climbs up the Coconut tree, and as Holger Rumpf observes,
"The animal has developed a special technique to do so: if the coconut is still covered with husk, it will use its claws to rip off strips, always starting from the side with the three germination pores, the group of three small circles found on the outside of the coconut. Once the pores are visible, the crab will bang its pincers on one of them until they break. Afterwards, it will turn around and use the smaller pincers on its other legs to pull out the white flesh of the coconut. Using their strong claws, larger individuals can even break the hard coconut into smaller pieces for easier consumption."
If you have ever tried to husk a coconut, as I have tried and always failed, you will appreciate what an amazing feat this is.
Here is a video of the Coconut Crab husking a Coconut (I couldn't see it do that, may be I am not really sharp, but apparently it does- you can see it take out the edible part of ithe coconut- YouTube
Amazing creature! I got goosebumps watching it peel the coconut.
ReplyDeleteFro now on, I would be wary to relax under a coconut tree. One such individual could come and mistake my skull for the coconut shell :)
Definitely a worst-case scenario:
ReplyDeleteHowever, you can try this if and when the coconut crab gets hold of your head or someplace else:
"a gentle titillation of the under soft parts of the body with any light material will cause the crab to loose its hold"
according to Wikipedia. Should be easy.
Did you see the man take it in his hand? What gives him that kind of courage? Is it harmless? I think it does not bite hands, feet etc...
And if you ever lose your hair, you should worry more, because these coconut crabs love shiny objects and take them away if they find it- so they are also called Robber Crabs!
This world is definitely a surprising place.
I have seen a similar type of insect that feed directly on the coconut tree's shoot. The tree will fall suddenly one day catching the farmer in surprise.
ReplyDeleteLot of farmers got affected by that vandu.
But what is amazing is, how does the crab know what is inside the coconut husk? It is almost as if there is a man inside, thinking, 'hey i should husk it and eat the stuff inside.'
ReplyDelete