What may seem like a nightmare to many of us apparently is not all that out-of-the-norm or scary to Australians. A family was enjoying an evening picnic on Christmas Island, Australia, when dozens of giant coconut crabs showed up at the party. These photos will leave you in shock – and maybe not never want to visit Christmas Island!
Along with her family and friends, Amy Luetich was enjoying a camping trip on Christmas Island, just off the coast of Australia in the Indian Ocean. They were having a late-night picnic party when some unexpected guests decided to crash the festivities. These guests, however, were not human guests. They were giant crabs – coconut crabs, to be exact.
Part-way through their barbecue, a massive herd of the giant coconut crabs came rolling up. Often described as gentle giants, they did not come to harm anyone. They simply came because the food smelled good and they wanted their share. As it turns out, coconut crabs have another more colloquial name: Robber Crabs. They will take and devour anything edible that they can get their hands – or rather, claws – on.
Luetich explained that she had seen the pod of crabs earlier in the day happily keeping their distance from her and her family and friends. When nighttime rolled around and they started cooking, however, the coconut crabs shed their trepidation and stormed over to their campsite.
“We lit our camp fire, and when we started cooking, the smell of the food attracted a whole huge number of robber crabs,” Luetich explained. “We were sitting down trying to eat our dinner and they were everywhere!”
Her son counted 52 crabs altogether. Thankfully, the crabs were not quite fast enough to actually get any of the food. They were, however, tapping on the people’s legs and climbing up onto the tables. Rather than terrifying, the family found the experience quite cool. You can see in the photos that no one really seems to be bothered by them at all.
“They are protected and respected here on the island,” Luetich said. “The big ones can be up to 80 years old, so we would never want to hurt one of these gentle giants.”
She says they tried to move the curious creatures back towards the forest, but the coconut crabs were far too interested in the food to be deterred. It wasn’t until the food was packed up and gone that the crabs finally took their cue and left.
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