In Rosie's Book: Ghost Crabs of South Carolina

Why Rosie's Book?

While growing up, I had a dear friend, Renee, that lived next door and with whom I spent much of my childhood. We grew, in different directions, and went on our merry way. Many years later, I ran into her parents and they kindly reminded me of the laughs they still have over my book. “What book?” I wondered with a puzzled look. "I don't remember a book." Hardy laughter accompanied their response. At some time during our childhood, I tried to convince Renee about something that her parents didn’t agree with. I told her that proof of its truth could be found “in my book.” Naturally she went home and tried to convince her parents of the same thing but they weren’t falling for it. She needed an edge and told them emphatically, “It’s in Rosie’s book!” After they caught their breaths from reborn laughter, they let me know how “Rosie’s book” has been cited for many other things throughout the years. They’ve also mentioned that they’d like to see “Rosie’s book” one day. I can’t remember all of the things that I said were in “my book” but I’m sure my dear friend’s parents can recall much more than I ever knew about – LOL!!! So, here it is . . . my version of things you might find In Rosie’s Book . . .

Friday, June 25, 2010

Ghost Crabs of South Carolina

You've got to take a look at these pics of ghost crabs from Huntington Beach State Park in South Carolina, where I visited recently. There were several of these little guys hanging around, running sideways, hole to hole, to avoid being eaten by any flying predators. Some of these ghost crabs were larger and appeared to be as big as my hand. They were really fast and it took me a long while (hours!) to get a good pic of them. Many of my other pics show only the hole as I couldn't click the camera button fast enough - LOL!!!

At first glance, the beach looks as though there are pre-dug umbrella holes spaced about 3 feet apart. When you look more closely, you begin to notice the sandy filling that was thrown around the outside of the hole like by little spoonfuls. Then you'll see the little sideways track marks connecting the holes. These little guys will poke their eyes out and if it's clear, they'll come out. A slight movement or shadow sends them back in their hole in the blink of an eye. They take on the color of the sand so if your not aware of them, you might miss them.

The corner of our beach blanket is at the lower left of this pic and shows how close these little critters really get. See the crab hole in the upper right corner?

I've heard that these ghost crabs dig as far as 4 feet into the sand and tunnel below to connect their holes. I've also heard that the only other place where similar ghost crabs live is in Jamaica. They're really an awesome sight so be on the look out for them if you happen to visit the beach in South Carolina.

I've named this one My Friend Crabby!

2 comments:

Unknown said...: Love those little crabs, they must have been so cute to watch!! I love wild life photography, wish I could afford a really good zoom lens for my Nikon D80, have one but not as good as I would like!!
Great pictures Rose; July 3, 2010 at 9:22 AM
SANDI said...: I am a big fan of our South Carolina ghost crabs. We have a home in Surfside and love going down to the beach after dark. They are facinating little creatures.; June 27, 2011 at 7:59 PM