Kleptomaniac crab collars camera
By Judy Evans
@JudyEv (382026)
Rockingham, Australia
March 11, 2020 7:44am CST
I checked out the news this morning and thought you might to hear about the robber crabs that frequent Christmas Island, which is around 1,550 kilometres (960 mi) off Western Australia’s north-west coast.
The robber or coconut crab, also known as the palm thief, is a terrestrial hermit crab and the world’s largest land-living arthropod. They can measure up to a metre wide, weigh 4 kgs (8.8 lbs) and has a life span of 80 to 90 years.
A woman, who is studying the Christmas Island flying fox for her PhD, has had a $6,000 camera stolen, presumably by a crab. The camera was set on a tripod with an external battery and left running all night. In the morning, the tripod had been knocked over and there were claw marks where the camera had been ripped from the attached cables. Ms Dorrestein said she had had numerous encounters with the big crabs trying to make off with backpacks and camera gear.
A spokesperson said the crabs have an acute sense of smell, are very curious and are known to have kleptomaniac tendencies. They often remove shoes and thongs (flipflops) from outside doors.
I have lots of photos of road signs but not this one. The photo (courtesy David Stanley from Nanaimo, Canada / CC BY (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0) is from Wikimedia.
21 people like this
20 responses
@MarshaMusselman (38865)
• Midland, Michigan
11 Mar 20
Funny road sign and idea that a crab stole her cameras. Possibly a person did the stealing and marked it up similar to a crab.
1 person likes this

@MarshaMusselman (38865)
• Midland, Michigan
12 Mar 20
@JudyEv so do people really think the crab dun it?
When I first read this I thought Rebelann wrote it, lol.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (382026)
• Rockingham, Australia
12 Mar 20
@MarshaMusselman The crabs have taken things before and the woman herself has chased them away from her equipment quite a few times.
1 person likes this


@wolfgirl569 (135744)
• Marion, Ohio
11 Mar 20
I would not want those thieves around 

1 person likes this

@wolfgirl569 (135744)
• Marion, Ohio
12 Mar 20
@JudyEv Now if they could be trained it might be different. 

1 person likes this
@JudyEv (382026)
• Rockingham, Australia
12 Mar 20
@wolfgirl569 There should be something useful they could be trained to do. 

1 person likes this
@RebeccasFarm (91297)
• United States
15 Mar 20
Wow she should have been more careful with that camera lol



1 person likes this
@RasmaSandra (98005)
• Daytona Beach, Florida
12 Mar 20
that is really interesting. I have never heard about these crabs. Does she have any hope in getting her camera back?
1 person likes this
@LindaOHio (222302)
• United States
11 Mar 20
My goodness! Now we have to watch out for robber crabs! Interesting post. Thanks!
1 person likes this
@DocAndersen (54399)
• United States
11 Mar 20
i suspect that made her a little crabby!
sorry, no smart aleck filter today
1 person likes this
@DocAndersen (54399)
• United States
12 Mar 20
@JudyEv it would seem to me that there are better cameras to use for that purpose. But she used what she had.
1 person likes this
@snowy22315 (208897)
• United States
11 Mar 20
Hmmm, giant crabs..sounds like Mysterious Island..
. I hope the poor lady had insurance.
. I hope the poor lady had insurance.1 person likes this
@rebelann (117226)
• El Paso, Texas
11 Mar 20
Oh wow, this sounds like something Vince would love to get a shot of. Maybe you can make it a point to go there just to try to get a few shots of those crabs to share with us ..... especially me cuz I don't travel and never get to see sea creatures 

1 person likes this
@JudyEv (382026)
• Rockingham, Australia
12 Mar 20
The island has a lot of coronavirus detainees on it at the moment from one of the cruise ships.
@JohnRoberts (109841)
• Los Angeles, California
11 Mar 20
Are they a protected species?
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (382026)
• Rockingham, Australia
12 Mar 20
I hadn't heard of the crab either before this article came out.


























I never heard of this crab.