Since You Asked

Coconut crabs. The largest land-living arthropod in the world. Also known as robber crabs or terrestrial hermit crabs. They dwell entirely on land and can’t swim. Adults can have leg spans of up to a yard and weigh as much as 38 pounds.

The coconut crab has eight legs. Attached to the front pair are huge claws which are what they use to crack open their favorite food. Yep, you guessed it. Coconuts. And guess how they get them. By climbing coconut palms. Sometimes, they feast while still in the tree and sometimes they clip off the coconuts, dropping them to the ground so they can take them back to their burrows where they then use the husks as bedding.

The diet of the coconut crab also consists of fruit, nuts, seeds, tortoise hatchlings, rats, animal carcasses, each other, and Amelia Earhart. Yes, that’s correct. It’s believed that crabs, who forage at night when it’s cool, overwhelmed the aviator while she lay sleeping and consumed her. This is supported by a skeleton fragment that was found in 1940. Researchers surmise that the crabs dragged the rest of her bones off to their burrows, souvenirs perhaps, just like the pots and pans they steal, an idea supported by the pig that was torn apart when they set it out one evening in 2007. Still so sure you want to run off to that deserted South Pacific island?

Baby coconut crabs are sold as pets even though they are now a protected species and shouldn’t be. Should you purchase one, make sure your cage is strong enough to stand up to their pinchers. If not, they will crack their way out and latch on to you which is very painful indeed. Once they do, they are unlikely to release you. But fear not. I will share a little known tidbit. Gentle tickling of the soft under parts is the way to entice them to let go so be sure you keep a long feather on your person at all times.