COCONUT CRABS

So apparently island life isn't all white sand, warm water, a balmy breeze to keep one cool, and a margarita at hand to keep one cooler.

I don't remember how I came across it, but I was reading a Discovery article about Amelia Earhart. It seems there's some evidence that she and her flying partner were stranded, and died, on the island of Nikumaroro. Parts of a female skeleton were discovered as well as some artifacts consistent with what would have been with them. The article goes on to say that the rest of the bones were most likely carried off by Coconut Crabs and that, most likely, their giant pincers took care of reducing them to skeletons in the first place. Yuk! So I Googled 'Coconut Crabs' and, (insert whatever expletives you like here - I wish I was the swearing type because the 'Queen's English' just isn't adequate sometimes), I actually recoiled and pushed the chair back from my desk.

And I thought it was just tarantulas and big cockroaches that were the one drawback of island life.



Apparently, they don't harm humans (yeah right) but use their giant pincers to crack open coconuts.